By Allan Leibowitz

While the UK truck driver crisis dominates the mainstream media, experts warn of a broader looming challenge across warehousing and logistics, not just in the UK, but in most markets around the world.

Indeed, US president Joe Biden made specific reference to the transport challenges at last week’s G-20 Summit, saying supply chain woes and labour shortages have been a drag on an already uneven economic recovery, pushing up prices and raising fears among economists, politicians and ordinary Americans of a prolonged period of higher prices.

Logistics UK’s September Performance Tracker found that 13% of businesses from the sector were reporting severe warehouse staff shortages, and 24.5% said they were struggling to get van drivers. Meanwhile, the number of online job adverts for transport, logistics and warehouse positions in the UK has doubled in the past year.

And there’s no immediate solution in sight. Global staffing group Randstad has warned that labour market shortages, including logistics workers, will be a major theme "for years to come".

Stuart Taylor, managing director of Mentor FLT Training in the UK, notes that many businesses are seeing reduced numbers of warehouse workers, in particular, workplace transport operators.

He attributes the current shortages to the shift towards e-commerce which is driving demand for materials handling equipment operators and warehouse staff. On top of this, Brexit has reduced the number of non-UK forklift operators available, he adds.

It’s a similar story in the United States, with Katie Richards, member engagement specialist at MHEDA, telling Forkliftaction News of labour shortages for all job roles and truck fleet shortages among members.

She blames the unemployment spike, COVID restrictions and travel bans for the shortages.

MHEDA recently advised members to start addressing the shortage of skilled labour through “creative recruitment and retention strategies including monetary incentives for referrals, signing bonuses and highly competitive wages”.

For organisations like industry training provider AITT, the current challenges bring new opportunities. Managing director Adam Smith says demand for operator training is at an all-time high with a record number of operators being registered on his group’s database.  

He sees a number of reasons behind the heightened demand including companies retraining operators who are returning from extended leave, pent-up demand for training dating back to 2020 when refresher training was postponed because of the pandemic, and recent increases in pay for operators of forklifts which is having the effect of “persuading some instructors to cease their training work and instead return to actually operating forklifts”. 

Mentor’s Taylor also recognises the COVID effect, with many businesses furloughing staff, particularly early on, and delaying training until their return, contributing to the backlog.

He warns that these factors will hit employers’ hip pockets. “Due to the shortage of skilled workers, there is increased pressure on labour rates, especially in warehousing. Businesses should be aware that this may lead to an increase in training costs (whether carried out internally or externally). However, companies should not take this opportunity to scale back training, as the risk of accidents only increases if personnel don’t have the relevant skills and knowledge to work safely. And MHE accidents often have very serious consequences,” he says.

AITT’s Smith also anticipates rising training costs in the current environment. “In the face of much increased demand and higher operational expenses, it is perfectly legitimate to pass on those costs to the customer. Clients must respect that training organisations cannot be expected to foot the bill entirely.”

He urges all parties to avoid taking shortcuts on safety: “Inadequate training or a lack of it can be far more costly to organisations than the investment in good quality accredited training that keeps employers on the right side of the law.”

Looking further ahead, Smith advises employers to improve their planning and take a more consistent review of their training requirements when it comes to materials handling equipment.

“We would urge users of materials handling equipment to prioritise: making sure that new starters are properly trained – they should never be allowed to use such potentially dangerous equipment.

“Re-assessing can also play a role in scheduling the training requirements of more experienced operators so that those most in need of refresher training - because they may be working less efficiently or even dangerously – are addressed first.”

He adds that supervisors need to genuinely understand their roles and to work with management to improve both productivity and safety. “They need training every bit as much as operators and attending a short course is almost certain to deliver cost benefits.”

MHEDA’s Richards says companies should look at automation and robotics to alleviate shortage of labour. At the same time, she urges the industry to raise its profile to “get new grads and students excited about working in our industry”.

According to Taylor, it is important that companies continue to see the value of training and invest in it. “Providing proper training (especially recognised, accredited courses) can even make your team feel valued and contribute towards greater staff retention, loyalty and productivity,” he advises.