BRITAIN IS facing a crisis in the road haulage industry with 70,000 vacancies currently existing for heavy goods vehicle drivers.

Road Haulage Association director for Scotland and Northern Ireland, Phil Flanders yesterday called for Government action to redress the shortage after it was announced that Driver Hire Nationwide is to launch a major new recruitment drive in Dundee.

Whilst Driver Hire claimed the news was excellent for job prospects in the Dundee area, Mr Flanders said the growth of the temporary driver market in which the company operates is not necessarily good news for the industry as a whole.

Driver Hire supplies drivers to major manufacturers, supermarkets and retail outlets from over 100 franchise businesses across the country.

According to a report by Ernst & Young, the temporary driver market has grown by 40% in the past three years and predicts it will more than double its current value by 2005 to £4.4 billion.

However, Mr Flanders says that growth fails to tackle deeper underlying recruitment problems within the haulage industry.

“There is a severe driver shortage and what this actually does is take drivers out of permanent jobs.

“There is a need for temporary drivers but it is a double edged sword, there’s no doubt about that and it doesn’t help industry.”

Commenting on the recruitment drive and the Ernst & Young report, Driver Hire Dundee director Grant Wilson said the announcement was exciting for the people of the area.

“We are launching a major recruitment drive across Dundee this year and will be expanding our existing training facilities in order to help meet drivers meet industry standards on transport regulations, health and safety issues, customer service and logistics.”