Truck shortages pose threat

The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) has voiced concerns over the growing issue of new commercial vehicle shortages in the UK. Manufacturers are being caught out by dramatic surges in demand for new trucks from the old eastern bloc countries as their economies boom in the post-communist era.

Speaking on behalf of the influential BVRLA Membership, the Association’s Director General, John Lewis, said, “The current order times being quoted by several leading manufacturers of up to 18 months for a maximum weight tractor unit pose a very real threat to the industry. Not just for our Members, but for the wider operating industry and the general public.”

He went on, “BVRLA Members operate some 50,000 trucks between them, and these vehicles represent a very high percentage of the most modern and environmentally efficient trucks on the UK commercial fleet. The necessity of having to reduce that profile because of long-term supply problems is already causing issues in the roll-out of digital tachograph and Euro 4 compliant vehicles across all their branches. This will knock-on into their customers’ operations as they seek to rationalise their own commercial progress within the new technologies.

“As for the general public, this slowdown in fleet modernisation, which some manufacturers are claiming will last for at least another 18 months, is going to have a serious effect on the environment on our roads. There is no doubt the Euro 4 and 5 solutions we had been expecting to come onto our roads would have been significant advances in cleaner road transport. The fact that these trucks will now be missing in great numbers can only be deplored, and we would urge manufacturers to get their house in order as rapidly as possible. There cannot be too many examples in recent times of a manufacturing industry of this size getting its production forecasts so very wrong, and so seriously damaging the interests of both customers and public alike. For example, operators waiting to upgrade their fleet to LEZ compliant vehicles will be hit heavily when the London Low Emission Zone comes into force on 4 February as either they’ll have to rent a truck or pay the penalty fine, and these costs will necessarily have to be passed on to customers.”