The driver shortage is forcing many in the transport and logistics sector to widen their recruitment net to employ the staff they need. There is now more of a focus on attracting women, young people, BAME recruits, the disabled and ex-offenders, as well as on ways to entice back the huge numbers of qualified drivers who have drifted away from the industry. The RHA has stressed the seriousness of the situation to the government in a Driver Shortage Call for Action, published in June. This highlighted the need to attract more people under the age of 25 - who currently make up under 1 % of the workforce - along with the creation of loans to cover training costs and a 'Return to Driving' scheme for former HGV drivers. Duncan Buchanan, the RHA's policy director for England and Wales, comments: "As an industry we need to employ people from as many different backgrounds as possible and find the talent we need from as wide a pool as possible."
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