The UK government has awarded contracts worth £34.5m to companies to train new truck drivers to ease the ongoing supply chain crunch caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit.

Funding for HGV “skill camps” has been widely welcomed by the industry, with the number of drivers down by a quarter since 2019, gaping supermarket shelves and fueling a petrol shortage last October.

According to the data provider’s analysis, the government has invested more in one year than it has spent on HGV driver training in the past eight years combined Tussell. It is expected to provide training for up to 11,000 drivers.

Industry experts say the intervention is necessary because low profit margins and endemic poaching of drivers has not incentivised the industry to invest in training, which costs around £4,000 per driver.

“The money is very welcome,” said Sally Gilson, skills policy manager at the Road Transport Association. “Our industry is razor-thin margins, 80% of our members own 15 trucks or less. They don’t have £4,000 apiece for training.”

Training providers say early signs are that rising wages and growing public awareness of the importance of logistics professionals are encouraging people to enter the industry.

Richard Weston, strategy manager at Manchester training firm Mantra Learning, which has been awarded a £5m contract under the scheme, said it had received 4,000 applications since it was launched on December 6.

“The response has been excellent,” he said, adding that Mantra is offering two to four-week courses to 50,000 drivers with HGV licenses who are not using them to enable them to reactivate their licenses.

Weston said the volatile driver market, with annual wages of up to £70,000 in hotspots, meant that demand for drivers had not translated into business investment in training.

“If you’re going to invest in training a driver, there’s a good chance the driver will get up and leave when they get a higher wage. It’s hard to make sure you’re getting a return on your training investment, which is why you need some public money,” he said.

according to Annual Skills Report Employment of lorry drivers has fallen by almost a quarter during the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of EU drivers has shrunk by a third and many older UK drivers have retired, according to industry body UK Logistics.

Austerity – from 308,000 drivers in Q2 2019 to 236,000 two years later – wages have risen by 8% over the same period to an average of £13.08 an hour, with drivers now earning an average of around £35,000 – a year £40,000.

Rona Hunnisett of UK Logistics said the grants were part of the government’s £2.5bn National Skills Fund, will help attract a new generation into an industry where the average driver is over 50 years old.

“It’s a great way to raise awareness of the industry and a great opportunity to show that there are good, meaningful jobs and good pay,” she added.

However, the industry did warn that the government should seek to maintain its investment outside the scope of this round of HGV “boot camps”, which will run until the end of November, with an option to continue for a second year.

The Department of Education is considering options to expand support for HGV training, officials said. Skills Minister Alex Burghart said the government was keen to push the courses forward. “We want more adults to take advantage of these free courses and embark on a path to high-paying careers,” he said.

Shane Brennan, chief executive of the Cold Chain Federation, warned of the risk of a “sugar fever” rise in wages, signing bonuses and training subsidies when many new entrants leave the industry within two years.

“Our job as an industry is not just to get drivers in the door, but to make sure they see it as a career for life,” he said.