Addressing a session at last week’s Future Logistics Conference in Farnborough, he added that the transport sector needs to “tap into the enthusiasm of younger professionals” and work harder to “dispel some of the misconceptions” about what a career in the sector involves.

“The biggest challenge we face in trying to attract people into the transport sector is defining what that means, as it is such a broad church,” Steve said.

One issue that needs addressing, he added, is that some people working in the sector – such as accountants or lawyers – define themselves by the specific job they do, rather than being a transport professional more broadly.

This used to apply to himself, he admitted. “I spent most of my career as a civil servant and until about the year 2000 if you asked me my profession, I would have said I was a civil servant.” Now, however, he recognises that he is part of the transport sector.

He added that professional groups involved in promoting transport might do more to help careers advisors understand better the opportunities available in the sector. “I wonder whether misconceptions might still be present in those people advising.” Could the careers advice made available at school or in further education, he continued, be doing the transport sector a dis-service?

Also addressing the session was Nicola Shaw of National Grid. She said that when it comes to promoting the transport sector “what tends to happen is that individual businesses work with schools around them, so it is very localised. The idea of trade bodies pulling together (to promote the sector more widely) is a good one.”

Nicola added that the COP26 climate change summit this autumn is a good opportunity to promote the sector. “We are trying to encourage schools to get their pupils to write an essay or poetry about what net zero means to them,” she said. “Schools love a competition.” 

The conference was part of an event called ITT Hub which showcased innovation and technology in transport, including a new electric truck where the driver is positioned centrally to improve their visibility of other road users.

Another session at the conference heard from zero emission transport champion the Zemo Partnership’s managing director Andy Eastlake, who said that progress in the logistics sector to embrace electric vehicles “is too slow”. Much is heard about electric cars, he added, but the heavy goods vehicles sector “is struggling to make a dent into the ultra low emissions agenda”.

He explained that one challenge is heavy trucks having enough battery capacity on board and still being able to carry a large load.

(Photograph: ITT Hub)

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