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 James Thornton TEG Transport Insights |
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What the UK’s logistics minister must do now Keir Mather’s in-tray is one few would want |
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Good morning, and welcome to TEG Transport Insights. Late last month, the UK government appointed a new, dedicated minister for logistics. Sort of. On Tuesday, 21st of July, Keir Mather was Minister for Aviation, Maritime and Decarbonisation. On Wednesday, he was Minister for Aviation, Maritime and Logistics. A small tweak. But an important one. As decarbonisation minister, Mather was tasked with ensuring planes could fly without jet fuel. As logistics minister, his role will be a great deal harder. What must Mather do following his appointment? A look at his in-tray reveals a daunting to-do list: Priority 1: Find more drivers In Q4 2025, 26% of UK HGV businesses reported driver vacancies, up from 24% a year earlier1. Better pay and benefits available elsewhere, drivers leaving the industry (while still of working age), and drivers retiring are all exacerbating the issue. The RHA has long reported where we’re heading next, estimating the UK needs to train 60,000 HGV drivers every year for the next five years to meet driver demand and support growth. Fewer and fewer people are up for it. It’s something Mather must address. Priority 2: Stop the drivers we have from driving trucks empty While Mather is mulling priority one over, he’ll be dismayed to learn that the drivers we do have spend nearly a third of their time hauling fresh air. Last year, 31% of all HGV miles were empty miles2. 5.9 billion kilometres. 147,000 laps of the earth. It’s a problem the industry is well aware of. It’s not one, however, that’s dwindling. The UK has been hovering at around 30% empty running for decades. Over to Mather for a fix. Priority 3: Stop people stealing the freight in trucks Does cargo theft explain all the empty running? No. But nonetheless, firms reported more than £100m of stolen goods due to UK freight crime in 20243, up from £68.3m in 2023. When 413,793 KitKats went missing in March (admittedly, en route from Italy to Poland) the public laughed. Nestlé even joined in, launching a tool that let people check if their KitKats were black market goods. The market value of the loss, however, was almost £500,000, and few domestic victims take losses in such spirit. Mr. Mather must take note. Priority 4: Somehow decarbonise the whole thing To be fair, when it comes to decarbonisation, the new minister has previous experience. A progress check, however, makes for stark reading. By 2040, every new HGV sold in the UK is supposed to be zero-emission. Meanwhile, zero-emission trucks accounted for just 1.4% of new HGV registrations last year4. That commercial vehicles make up just 14% of vehicles on UK roads isn’t much solace: such vehicles account for more than a third of road-transport CO2 emissions nonetheless. The UK’s first dedicated minister for logistics, then, finds himself facing the challenges that 3PLs face daily. Find drivers, fill trucks, avoid theft and reduce emissions. I’m not sure if Mather is aware of TEG, but if he is, I expect he’ll be calling us soon. By finding spare capacity for 3PLs, the TEG platform solves all four of those issues. Mather may even seek to become a reseller, although I hope not. I work on commission, and I’m currently enjoying our 30% year-on-year growth. All the best,
James Thornton |
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About TEG The TEG platform helps 3PLs source carriers efficiently. Its marketplace encompasses a carrier for every 1.6 square miles of the UK. |
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Sources 1. Gov.UK 2. Gov.UK 3. RHA.UK 4. SMMT.co.uk |
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