Driver shortage named top challenge

A shortage of drivers will be the biggest challenge facing the transport industry in 2018.

That’s according to UK customer survey carried out by Paragon Software Systems.

Its annual survey revealed that almost half of respondents (46%) state that the lack of drivers and other skilled workers across the industry was the biggest hurdle to success. This was an increase by more than a third compared to the previous year, and significantly ahead of other factors such as rising transport costs (13%) and Brexit (two per cent).

The survey also asked respondents what planning pressures were affecting their transport operations and 46% cited the need to compare planned routes against actual performance, and another 45% said a demand for more accurate time windows were the most significant factors.

William Salter, Paragon’s managing director, said, ‘The findings of our customer survey highlight the importance of using routing and scheduling software to help manage all available drivers and vehicles at an individual resource level. This means that logistics operations can mitigate the impact of driver and skills shortages, as well as meet the increasing expectations of customers.’

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