Here Comes The HGV Mechanic Shortage Panic

As the HGV driver shortage eases, the lack of mechanics and technicians now risks bringing further misery to the haulage sector.

We reported only last week that the HGV driver shortage had now, seemingly, been got on top of – through various government funded projects, and firms offering higher wages and bonuses, the shortfall in drivers had decreased substantially in the last eighteen months and the industry now seems to be looking healthier in that respect than it has done for many years.

What the above good news has brought about, however, is that due to the higher numbers of drivers now operating, an HGV mechanic shortage has now emerged and there aren’t enough qualified HGV mechanics to keep up with the rising workload of more vehicles and drivers on the road. Experts in the HGV field now believe it may be this part of the HGV sector that could hold up further growth in the future.

Industry leaders and logistics groups have come out to highlight the issue and explain what it may mean for the sector if this issue isn’t resolved quickly. According to the groups, the big investment by government in the last 24 months to help the decline in driver numbers (offering paid for training) has actually resulted in a stampede effect where too many drivers have come through at a faster speed than the mechanics can keep up with. It has also emerged that the higher wages have also attracted the attention of the mechanics who were on lower wages and many of those very mechanics have jumped ship to become drivers – leaving gaps in the mechanic field. A double whammy effect.

Many now believe that unless mechanic wages match the new HGV driving wages, then this could impact the sector to the point of empty shelves and delays on deliveries like we saw during the pandemic. The fact is, the driving situation was just one cog in the HGV machine. The lack of drivers’ issue may have been resolved but the mechanic situation is now faltering and is impacting the whole sector again.

Figures seen recently highlight how dire the situation is becoming. From a survey of over 200 members, nearly fifty-five per cent admitted having a ‘severe’ problem employing mechanics and technicians, with many also admitting fitters were also a problem to get hold of. Retaining them is even harder. Last year the figure showed only a quarter of members were having problems getting hold of mechanics to undertake work. It’s easy to see why the problem has opened up. It is claimed that many of the mechanics that have jumped ship held HGV licenses anyway so why would they work for less under a vehicle when they can earn much more money operating one?

It is now expected that similar fast track training programmes (on the same scheme as the driving initiative) will have to be introduced to bring new workers to the sector, with a particular focus on young workers coming out of college. Naturally, the wages for this profession will also have to rise, otherwise the entire industry will come to a standstill yet again. Brexit and the loss of foreign workers has also done little to dilute the situation.

It has also been suggested that many school leavers and college students have been bypassing the mechanic jobs and instead looking to get into the more technological and computing side of vehicles. Leaders in the sector believe this is because many education professionals are telling youngsters that there is more future in that kind of work – either way, there are many factors causing the mechanic crisis at the moment – and ultimately only higher pay and better social promotion of the job will be able to bring it back in line to where it needs to be.

With the latter in mind, many firms have already got the ball rolling with offering more cash incentives to new mechanics joining their ranks. According to latest figures from Logistics UK’s analysis breakdown from job hub Adzuna, the wages for technicians and mechanics alike, has gone up almost 16 per cent to over £41,000 in the last couple of years alone – and is expected to rise significantly within the next 12 months.

Only time will tell whether haulage companies can sustain the levels of increases that are being commanded from drivers and mechanics, it’s going to be a tough ask to keep them firms heading in the right direction.