UK Logistics Apprenticeships: A Future in the Balance

The UK’s logistics industry keeps the nation moving. It is the backbone of our supply chain, ensuring the seamless delivery of goods that businesses and consumers rely on daily. But for an industry that demands consistency, skill, and efficiency, how can we maintain those standards when the very training systems that feed our workforce remain fragmented?

The RHA has long supported apprenticeships as a vital route to acquiring skills in our sector. However, the current landscape of apprenticeship funding and delivery across the UK lacks cohesion, creating disparities in training and skill levels across regions. If logistics is expected to operate as a seamless national industry, why is the pathway into the profession so inconsistent?

A Fragmented Model – A Challenge to Standards

The reality is that apprenticeship provision across the UK varies significantly.

In Scotland, for example, apprenticeships such as the Diploma in Driving Goods Vehicles at SCQF Level 6 provide structured training for new entrants, ensuring they gain relevant qualifications alongside practical experience​. But while this is a positive step, it exists within a broader framework where funding models, training standards, and promotional efforts lack uniformity.

This was made particularly evident during Scottish Apprenticeship Week 2025.

The campaign’s promotional material largely overlooked logistics, transport, and driving roles​. This omission raises an uncomfortable question: if the very initiatives designed to promote apprenticeships fail to reflect the reality of our industry’s needs, how can we expect young people to consider logistics a viable career?

Elsewhere, trade bodies such as the British Association of Removers (BAR) have taken matters into their own hands, developing apprenticeship programs tailored to their specific sector​.

While this is commendable, it raises another critical issue, are we heading towards a proliferation of focused apprenticeship standards that cater to niche needs while failing to provide a comprehensive, standardised training model across the industry?

The Need for Consistency and Investment

The demand for skilled drivers and logistics professionals is not going away.

The RHA’s latest report predicts that the UK will need 40,000 new HGV drivers each year for the next five years​. If we are to meet this need, apprenticeship schemes must be accessible, attractive, and, most importantly, consistent.

At present, the industry faces several barriers to achieving this goal:

• Regional discrepancies in funding and support mean that some parts of the UK benefit from better-resourced training programs than others.

• Limited cross-sector collaboration means that rather than working towards a unified apprenticeship framework, different organisations are creating their own bespoke training models.

• Lack of visibility and promotion in national apprenticeship campaigns continues to push logistics into the background, failing to attract the next generation of talent.

Government and industry stakeholders must address these challenges head-on. We need:

1. A unified approach to logistics apprenticeships - ensuring consistency in training, funding, and delivery across all regions.

1. A stronger voice for logistics in apprenticeship promotion - making it clear that this sector offers rewarding, long-term career opportunities.

1. Greater investment in modern training methods - including simulator-based training, as demonstrated by the success of Project Jackdaw, which has shown that such technology can improve driver competency, reduce costs, and enhance training accessibility​.

The Road Ahead

RHA remains committed to supporting apprenticeships and ensuring that logistics careers remain accessible to new entrants. But we cannot do this alone.

The industry, training providers, and government must work together to build an apprenticeship system that reflects the needs of our sector, one that is consistent, well-funded, and aligned with the long-term sustainability of UK logistics.

Without such reforms, we risk a fragmented system that struggles to produce the skilled workforce we need. The question is not whether apprenticeships should be the future of logistics training, they absolutely should be. The challenge is ensuring that the system in place is fit for purpose.

The time for change is now.