Leeds, UK: Arla says the truck driver shortage has forced it to reduce delivery frequency.
Ash Amirahmadi, managing director UK, said some 600 stores out of the 2,400 stores it delivers to daily lost deliveries on Saturday.
Amirahmadi said the government could help the industry by accelerating the programme of driving tests for new HGV drivers, as well as by issuing temporary visas for the road haulage industry, so that more European drivers could be allowed into the country.
Amirahmadi said: “Since the beginning of April, we have experienced driver shortages. That has increased to such a level now that we are not able to deliver milk to every store that we’d like to.
“Unfortunately at the moment, there’s about 10% of the stores every day that we can’t deliver to. At the weekend, it’s worse.”
Amirahmadi said the problem was a structural issue that needed a structural solution and it would be “tough and challenging” to get through the summer.
Arla, through third-party hauliers, had “significantly increased” pay, including paying new drivers a £2,000 bonus if they were prepared to work weekends, Amirahmadi said. But with summer holidays approaching, the problem was likely to get worse, he said.
“By how much, we cannot fully predict, but I think that’s why we really need to take bold action in time for the summer,” he said.
The driver shortage has combined with the “pingdemic” to exacerbate the problem, as large numbers of workers in key sectors have been forced to stay at home after being altered by the NHS Covid app. Arla was suffering more from the lack of drivers than from Covid alerts, Amirahmadi said.
“Self-isolation doesn’t seem to be impacting us as much, because we’re a very mechanised, automated business,” he added.
“The food is there in the factories, it’s just about getting it to the shops. So that’s our key problem.”
