Delivery hours extension welcomed by wholesalers, but leaves unions worried

By Éilis Cronin in Industry News 8th July 2021

The government’s decision to extend lorry drivers’ hours from Monday has been welcomed by the Federation of Wholesale Distributors (FWD), because it will allow stores to get all the stock they need as lockdown ends.

Transport minister Grant Shapps has extended drivers hours temporarily to allow them to make slightly longer journeys.

James Bielby, chief executive of the FWD, said: “This is just what food distributors needed – an immediate and obvious solution to what could have been a catastrophic supply chain failure.

“The flexibility in drivers’ hours means that those out-of-the-way shops, pubs and restaurants will get the stock they need for the big re-opening on Freedom Day, and will allow wholesalers to do as much as 15% more deliveries each day.”

But not everybody welcomed the drivers’ hours extension.

Mark Todd, national officer for the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw), said: “Fatigue is known to be a factor in up to a quarter of serious and fatal road traffic accidents and lorry drivers are known to be at a greater risk of suffering fatigue, even when they are driving within the European driving hours limits because shift patterns require them to work anti-social hours.”