The latest Logistics Performance Tracker from Logistics UK shows business sentiment improving during the second quarter of 2026, prompting the trade body to point to “green shoots of recovery” across the sector.
Behind the more positive headline, however, the survey reveals mounting pressure for road transport operators. Only 56.2% of respondents with HGV operations said they had sufficient drivers in Q2, down from 79.3% in Q1.
That means almost 44% were operating without enough HGV drivers, according to the survey.
The quarterly change is particularly notable because driver availability had appeared relatively stable before the latest survey. In Q1 2025, 77.2% of respondents said they had sufficient HGV drivers, while Logistics UK subsequently reported that recruiting HGV drivers became easier during Q3 2025 than in the previous quarter.
The new figures therefore suggest a sharp deterioration rather than simply a continuation of the acute shortages seen earlier in the decade.
Confidence recovers after weak start to 2026
The deterioration in driver availability contrasts with a broader improvement in sentiment among logistics companies.
Logistics UK’s business outlook indicator rose from 5.8 out of 10 in Q1 to 6.5 in Q2, reversing the decline recorded between Q3 2025 and the beginning of this year.
Companies also rated their financial health more strongly, with the score increasing from 7.2 to 7.5 out of 10.
Logistics UK Chief Executive Ben Fletcher said the results showed operators beginning to feel more confident after a difficult start to the year.
“After a difficult start to the year, it is encouraging that survey results for this quarter show that operators are starting to feel more confident about the state of business, with gradual signs of recovery beginning to show,” Fletcher said.
However, Logistics UK cautioned that expectations remain subdued and operators continue to face substantial cost pressures.
Road freight rates expected to rise
Transport costs remain one of the sector’s principal concerns.
Some 57% of respondents expect costs to increase in the short to medium term, while the majority also anticipate higher road freight rates.
For international road freight, 70.4% expect rates to rise, while 67.6% expect higher domestic road freight rates.
Logistics UK warned that stronger demand could therefore be accompanied by tighter margins for road operators already working with limited financial headroom.
Fuel is another source of concern. Expectations for fuel prices deteriorated markedly during the quarter and remained among the weakest indicators measured by the tracker.
Meanwhile, disruption to global shipping routes has intensified. Around 26% of respondents reported worse conditions than in Q1, demonstrating that international supply-chain uncertainty continues despite improvements elsewhere.
Driver problem returns to the foreground
The driver figures are especially significant given the direction of travel seen during 2025.
Logistics UK’s Q1 2025 tracker found that 77.2% of respondents had sufficient numbers of HGV drivers. At the time, severe HGV driver recruitment difficulties were reported by 14.5% of companies, down from 20.3% at the end of 2024.
Later in 2025, the organisation’s Q3 tracker reported that hiring HGV drivers had become easier compared with the previous quarter, although recruitment conditions remained challenging.
The Q2 2026 result breaks sharply with that pattern.
Technical positions remain difficult to fill as well. Almost a third of respondents to the latest survey reported severe or very severe difficulties recruiting fitters, mechanics or technicians.
The findings do not establish whether the deterioration in HGV driver availability represents the beginning of a sustained shortage or a temporary quarterly fluctuation. But the scale of the change – from almost four in five operators reporting sufficient drivers to little more than half – puts staffing firmly back among the pressures facing the UK road freight sector.
Logistics UK’s quarterly tracker combines publicly available data with responses from logistics businesses and is intended to measure business health, supply-chain conditions, freight rates and workforce trends across the sector.
