On the 4th-7th October 2015, the Road Haulage Association (RHA) will exhibit at the Conservative Party Conference to educate politicians about the essential role that lorries and road freight play in keeping the economy moving, to highlight the increasingly acute nature of the truck driver shortage and to promote ‘National Lorry Week’.

The RHA represents haulage companies that between them operate approximately 100,000 heavy goods vehicles across the UK, operating in an industry currently short of some 60,000 truck drivers. To highlight the issue the RHA will give delegates the opportunity to get first-hand experience of the high skill levels required to drive a truck by taking part in a ‘Top Gear’ style “star in a reasonably priced car” challenge on the stand’s truck simulator. The aim will be for competitors to beat a score set by the RHA’s ‘Stig’, the UK’s best truck driver.  The RHA has challenged Boris Johnson to be the first delegate to set a time on the simulator

RHA chief executive Richard Burnett said: “A key reason why we are at the conference is to promote our upcoming national awareness campaign, ‘National Lorry Week.  This is designed to educate the public and politicians about the critical nature that lorries and road freight play in everyday life.

“Everything we eat, drink, wear and use has spent time on the back of a lorry. Homes, places of work, hospitals, shops, restaurants and schools all rely on an efficient, cost-effective, transport and logistics network. Without lorries we would have nothing in our homes or places of work except tap water; until the pipes failed”

Visit the RHA at Stand 53 for more information or to take part in the challenge.