Bridging the Gap: Introducing “Youth in Trucks”

Why Now? The Talent Gap in Logistics

The UK’s logistics and fuel distribution sector is facing a well-documented challenge: an aging workforce, growing skills shortages, and a lack of awareness among young people about the rewarding careers available in this field.

Despite being a backbone of our economy, the sector is often overlooked by school leavers and early career professionals. Traditional recruitment pipelines aren’t capturing the imagination of young people — and we want to change that.

What Is “Youth in Trucks”?

Youth in Trucks is our commitment to helping the industry attract, inspire, and support the next wave of logistics professionals. It’s about:

• Shining a spotlight on young success stories through media, podcasts, and live events.

• Creating pathways into the sector via training, partnerships, and awareness.

• Championing change by working with industry leaders to make space for new voices and diverse talent.

We kicked off the initiative with a special session at this year’s industry event, where our Non-Executive Director, Alex Wolfe, hosted a live podcast with past winners of the UKIFDA Person of the Year award. These inspiring young professionals shared their stories and offered real-world insights into how they got started, the hurdles they’ve overcome, and why this industry matters.

What’s Next? Exploring Partnerships and Training

We’re currently in exploratory talks with the founder of Changing Gears, a like-minded initiative tackling similar challenges in another part of the sector. Their guidance and openness to collaborate are helping shape our roadmap.

We’re also actively researching Government Skills Bootcamps, to assess how our programme could align with or benefit from these training schemes. These bootcamps are designed to rapidly upskill individuals into high-demand industries — making them a natural fit for our goals.