A lorry driver of 15 years has revealed how he has been given a pay rise of £7 an hour “almost overnight”.
The UK is currently struggling with a shortfall of around 100,000 HGV drivers due to a mixture of coronavirus and Brexit.
The lack of workers has been impacting companies up and down the country, with many forced to take items off the menu, including McDonald’s, Wetherspoon and Nando’s.
Tom Reddy explained on Twitter how he'd been given a 40% increase as “there are no drivers” and said how some firms are offering salaries of up to £50,000 a year.
Tesco and Asda are advertising starting bonuses of around £1,000 to entice new HGV drivers, while Waitrose this week began offering a salary of up to £53,780.
Mr Reddy, aged 36 and from Stratford-upon-Avon, didn't say how much he was previously on, or what he is currently earning as a result of the increase.
His post has since accumulated 17,000 likes, almost 4,000 retweets and hundreds of comments.
Mr Reddy, who mainly delivers milk to supermarkets, tweeted: "I arrived to work today to discover a £7 per hour pay rise.
"A 40% increase... almost overnight. There are no drivers, things are about to get a bit tasty.
"Completely unsustainable, of course, so guess what happens to prices next?"
Speaking separately to the BBC, he said increasing pay was "unsustainable" and costs would have to be passed on to customers.
Mr Reddy also revealed how he is leaving the industry in a few weeks time, despite now earning more than £300 a day, as he wants a better work-life balance.
He added: "It's not just about the money, it is a very difficult job to promote to people.
"The working hours are very long, the conditions can be rough - living away and sleeping in your lorry, eating in lay-bys, bad food, not being able to exercise."
Have you had a similar pay increase? Get in touch: mirror.money.saving@mirror.co.uk
He said he could not fault the firm he worked for, but "even if they offered me £80k I'd step away".
The lorry driver shortage was an issue before the coronavirus pandemic but it is being made worse by Covid restrictions and post-EU Brexit rules.
The coronavirus pandemic has seen travel to the UK become extremely restricted, and haulage companies say European drivers have simply decided not to return due to Covid-19 and Brexit.
About 14,000 European lorry drivers left the UK last year and only 600 have returned, statistics suggest.
There is also understood to be a large backlog in HGV driver tests, again because of the pandemic, meaning it's been harder to get new drivers on the road.
Some workers were also forced to stay home during the height of the "pingdemic".
