Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Richard Burnett, chief executive of the Road Haulage Association, said “In the next two to three weeks we are facing a collapse of the supply chain meaning even bigger gaps on supermarket shelves.

“We already have hauliers unable to move goods on a daily basis and we’re now facing a perfect storm.”

The UK government has admitted it is “concerned” by pictures of empty shelves, with Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Kwasi Kwarteng speaking out – but – ministers have also urged customers not to panic buy despite the limited amount of stock in some supermarket stores and branches in recent days in GB.

Richard Burnett said: “This is a crisis on a scale we have never seen before in this industry and the Government is burying its head in the sand. It is not recognising the seriousness.”

However, Tony Danker, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry, told the Manchester Evening News “The irony of all of this is that the Government said they were reopening the economy but the pingdemic is effectively closing it down.

“There are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of businesses have been in touch with us to describe scenarios where the scale of people self-isolating, testing negative by the way but self-isolating, is so big that they are basically bringing core operations to a close.”

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The Federation of Independent Retailers (NFRN) is urging the government to take immediate action to avoid shops being faced with empty shelves.

The Road haulage Association (RHA) has warned that a shortage of HGV drivers will have a serious impact on maintaining delivery levels to stores.

NFRN national president Stuart Reddish said: “Some of our members are already experiencing difficulties in obtaining stock and, if this shortage of drivers is not addressed, the situation will only get worse.

“As many retailers are just starting to recover from the hardships caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the last thing we need is a lack of availability of stock, especially when it comes to essential products.”

‘Crippling effects of HGV shortages’

RHA chief executive Richard Burnett has written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson stressing the need for action on the crippling effects of the current HGV driver shortage.

The RHA says it needs access to EU and EEA labour to address the shortage and has asked for the introduction of a temporary worker visa for HGV drivers. It is also calling for this occupation to be added to the Home Office Shortage Occupation List.

Concluding the letter to the Prime Minister, Burnett said: “It is our collective view that there has never been a more challenging time for this industry and we urge you to take decisive steps to ensure that we can continue to maintain the UK’s integrated and finely balanced supply chains.”

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