05 October 2016
A week-long campaign to make the haulage industry more attractive to a whole new generation has been hailed an ‘unprecedented success’, following a series of events across the UK to raise awareness of career opportunities within the industry.tnb-national-lorry-week-2016
National Lorry Week 2016, organised in association with the Road Haulage Association (RHA), took place during the last week of September and began with a parliamentary reception at the House of Commons, which saw 28 MPs attend and show their support for the industry.
At the reception, Transport Minister John Hayes promised he would be “much more radical” in building the status of road haulage as a key part of the economy.
During National Lorry Week, more than 30 separate events took place across the UK, including fun days at RHA member and non-member haulage depots, along with school and college workshops.
Scotland alone had an event every day during the week, kicking off at Falkirk FC with a football match and concluding at M&D’s theme park in Motherwell. Over 500 children attended throughout the week, including 120 college students and 165 schoolchildren at an event in Aberdeen.
RHA chief executive Richard Burnett said, “This year’s National Lorry Week has proved that there is a growing buzz around logistics, and that younger people are starting to see haulage as an industry in which they can build a career.”
“We were especially pleased to see how ‘The Next Generation’ theme was reflected so strongly at the events with schoolchildren and young adults participating and enjoying it all.”
Recruiting young people into the haulage industry is critical in order to address the current skills and driver shortages that look set to affect the industry in the coming years, with the average age of a lorry driver now being 53 years old.
Following the success of the second National Lorry Week, the RHA plans to make the event an annual occurrence, and is expected to announce the dates for National Lorry Week 2017 at the CV Show at the NEC, Birmingham, next April.