As 2022 begins, I am sure that fleet managers across the public sector will be considering their plans for the coming year. To say that this year is going to be a challenge is an understatement given the trials and tribulations of the last two years. In my previous role as a fleet manager, I was often involved with a county wide emergency planning team and we spent considerable time in developing emergency action plans which we trialled through multi-agency training exercises.

The ones that stuck in my mind were the effects of a fuel shortage and a pandemic. We ran exercises to establish how we would cope with these scenarios and as fuel shortages had been experienced in recent decades this was considered to be the most likely plan to have to implement. We never expected to endure a pandemic of the scale of the one we are only just now (hopefully) clawing our way out of. And if the pandemic wasn’t enough, we now face other challenges.

Partly as a result of Brexit, the pandemic and the global economy, we now find that there is a serious shortage of skilled labour, especially drivers of HGVs. I think it is fair to say that local authorities did a tremendous job in many areas throughout the pandemic and the important tasks of refuse collection and cleansing were maintained admirably.

The labour shortage is, however, coming to the fore as one of the most significant challenges of 2022. Recruitment and retention of those vital HGV drivers has to be a key feature of any forward plan. It is known that many haulage companies are increasing the pay rates of their drivers in an effort to keep them but some are also offering ‘golden hello’ payments of up to £5,000 to recruit. Such incentives will encourage drivers to be more selective of who they work for and will only serve to make it harder for local authorities to attract skilled staff.

What can we do to ensure public services engage and keep the staff they need? For many years skilled office staff have been attracted to roles by good salaries and conditions and it is not unusual for councils to apply ‘market forces supplements’ to these posts in order to be able to compete with the private sector. Sadly, such supplements are seldom considered for those employed at the sharp end of the job. Job Evaluation, widely applied to the public sector and once hailed as the fairest way to ensure staff are fairly compensated, could now be considered a stumbling block to allowing employers to join the race to employ essential workers. I can’t see any council considering making golden hello payments to refuse truck drivers and loaders. Perhaps councils could consider offering relocation expenses in order to attract staff.

It is time for a rethink of the whole process of recruitment and retention of key workers before the attraction of cash payments lure previously loyal staff to the private sector.

There is also now the pressure of the environment. No one will deny that there is much work to be done to move fleets away from the internal combustion engine (ICE) and time is not a luxury we have, given the 2040 deadline for all heavy goods vehicles to transition to zero emissions.

Many zero emission vehicles, including 26 tonne refuse trucks, are now available. That they work in most areas is no longer in doubt. However, in my opinion, we have certainly put the cart before the horse. There are very few council fleets that are likely to have sufficient infrastructure in place to be able to charge a fleet of, typically, 20-30 refuse trucks overnight. The challenge is not how to obtain these clean vehicles, rather how to power them. Such infrastructure can be expensive and could require considerable investment to facilitate the transition to electric.

Hydrogen is also being considered as a way forward both to power fuel cell vehicles and, more recently, as a fuel for a modified ICE. Arguments abound as to how to produce sufficient (and cost effective) green hydrogen and then to distribute it across the country.

There are many highly knowledgeable fleet managers in the public sector so I am sure that solutions will be found in time for 2040. But I would urge all parties to put the horse before the cart.