Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has given MPs an update on the HGV driver shortage crisis.
He told the Transport Committee that the situation is improving “week by week”.
Mr Shapps said his department had introduced double the amount of testing slots to allow drivers to become qualified while better pay conditions and facilities had incentivised people to join the sector.
He said: “First of all, this is absolutely global. But we’ve had an additional systematic issue in this country for a very long time.
“We’ve continually allowed our domestic market to underperform by simply having wages undercut by people coming in prepared to do the job for less and in pretty bad conditions sometimes. That’s the wider picture we’re determined to resolve.
“We’ve seen a very welcome rise in salaries. I think this will provide incentive for people to come into this market.
“99% of HGV driver are white male, so by definition half the population are not tempted to come into this sector. We need better facilities. We’ve been working on conditions at truck stops for a long time,” he added.
Mr Shapps denied the wage hikes would cause inflation in the price of goods in supermarkets, claiming distribution was a “small element in the overall cost” of products.
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