What are we asking government to do?
There are important asks to government to ease the impact of Covid-19 on the industry and society, and we are active in daily industry calls with Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), as well as the Department for Transport (DfT) and other government departments.
We have been emphasising to the media that the logistics industry is very adaptable -- as demonstrated in previous disruptions, such as weather events, ash clouds and lorry fuel strikes -- and executes contingency planning very well. We have also called for calm amongst consumers, emphasising there are no supply chain issues and shelves are being re-stocked.
FTA’s asks of government include:
- Recognition of the logistics sector as emergency/critical service (link to care, access to facilities, movement over borders, etc).
- Relaxation in restrictions on delivery hours by local authorities to allow re-stocking.
- Safe and appropriate easements in driver hours.
- Government supported industry-wide contingency planning to address shortages in drivers, vehicle testing, vocational licence acquisition testing, completion of Driver CPC training and medical assessments for vocational licence renewal.
- Clearer government advice to the public on scenario planning, to limit panic buying.
- Consideration of packages of appropriate financial help.
Members are continually raising specific issues and challenges that are arising, such as LOLER inspections and ADR. FTA is grateful for this information and we are raising these concerns with government as risks, which we are helping to prioritise.
