A DRIVING recruitment specialist last night warned that newly-introduced legislation could delay the delivery of goods over Christmas.
Bill Taylor, director of NEWdrive, a driving staff recruitment company, said the Working Time Directive, which came into force in October, could have a potentially devastating effect on delivering goods throughout Britain.
He said: "The directive says that no driver can work more than a 48-hour week. We have been about 162,000 drivers short nationally before this, so you have potentially doubled your shortage to 300,000.
"But the goods still have to move, particularly at this time of year.
"There's going to be a lot of work going for drivers, but there will still be a big demand for smaller stuff because they can't get HGV drivers and have to drop the size of the vans down. It is a good time to be a driver."
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