German freight industry says British visas won't draw truckers

Posted on Sunday, November 7th by

The German freight industry warned that the British government's plan to offer temporary visas for 5,000 foreign truck drivers in the run-up to Christmas will not bring back the drivers who have left after Brexit.

"The labor market on the European continent has gratefully accepted these workers - they are now lost to re-employment in the United Kingdom," Frank Huster, chief executive of the German Freight Forwarding and Logistics Association, told Reuters.

The post-Brexit shortage of lorry drivers, intensified by the suspension of the testing process during COVID lockdowns, and people leaving the haulage industry, have amplified the nationwide crisis.

The government announced a plan to issue temporary visas for 5,000 foreign truck drivers, but Huster said that would not help.

"The new UK visa regulations - especially the temporary ones - will not change this," Huster said.


Source: Reuters