Journey times on major roads across the UK have significantly increased in the past year, with delays lengthening by an average of 11 per cent in just 12 months to well above pre-pandemic levels.​

Brexit resulted in mass exodus of eastern European drivers, UK nationals driver numbers are 10% down compared to pre-pandemic​

Over a third are aged over 55 and therefore high probability many will drop out of the available pool - 5½% are aged over 66 & only 16% are under the age of 35 – supporting the view it is not a career of choice for the young​

New data released by the Department for Transport shows that the mean delay across the Strategic Road Network (SRN) – which encompasses 4,500 miles of motorways and A-roads managed by National Highways – grew to 11 seconds per mile between June 2023 and June 2024, representing an 11.1 per cent increase year-on-year.​

The average speed driven on SRN tarmac dropped by 1.9 per cent in that period to 56.5mph – the slowest it’s been in over 10 years – pushing up average journey times. ​

The RAC’s head of policy, Simon Williams, described the DfT statistics as “worrying, considering the number of miles travelled by road haven’t quite returned to pre-pandemic levels”.​

Haulier driver preference is becoming short haul operations without overnight stops​

The above all point to the necessity for cargo owners of having their goods arrive by sea, closer to their end destination - A solution that the Port of Liverpool can enable.