Brexit is not the only reason for the current supplier crisis, according to the joint Director of one of Worcester's biggest haulage firms.

He believes the issue of driver shortages has been years in the making.

Martin Pinches, a Director of M Pinches haulage, said: "There has been a shortage of drivers for years, the problems with the industry from our point of view started years and years ago. 

"We're sort of a second-generation business, and every school holiday we used to go with our father and travel round the UK, so we were sort of born into it really. 

"But since everything has been tightened up health and safety wise, we've lost generations of drivers who wouldn't have had that introduction to the industry. 

"That's going back 20-25 years ago and we're seeing a huge knock-on effect, we've not enough young blood in the industry."

Mr Pinches said that a lot of older drivers left the industry when tightened regulations and training came in almost 20 years ago.

Since then, he's noted an industry wide struggle with getting in younger staff.

"There is a problem in the industry, it has been highlighted more now, but it has been ongoing for some time," he said.

"Trying to get young blood is very difficult, we're fortunate that my lads work in the business, but that is because we are a proper family business.

"But they are by far the youngest in the company."

Almost all of Britain's biggest supermarkets have experienced gaps on their shelves, with stocks in shops reportedly hitting their lowest levels since 1983 as supplier struggles intensify. 

This has been largely attributed to the estimated shortfall of 100,000 drivers, which has been partly fuelled by 14,000 EU drivers leaving the country post Brexit.

However, Mr Pinches believes that large companies have brought a significant amount of their problems on themselves with the long-term poor treatment of workers within the industry.

"A lot of drivers when they go to big supermarkets or regional distribution centres, they're not treated very well to be honest with you," he continued. 

"I've seen interviews with bosses of supermarkets complaining that they have got a shortage of drivers, well they need to go and have a look at their distribution depots and contractors and see how they treat the drivers trying to deliver goods to them.

"They have brought a lot of their problems to their own doorstep.

"But it isn't just them, and I've always said it, our industry has been consistently undervalued, and we've almost been treated as second class citizens.

"Only now do they realise what an integral part of the supply chain we are."

Haulage companies have been thrown into the spotlight over the past few months, and the Government is now spearheading a push for 5,000 EU drivers to come to the UK on a three-month contract to help ease supply issues in the build up to Christmas.

And Mr Pinches has insisted that he's glad to see the industry getting media coverage, as he believes it is highlighting important issues.

He said: "I don't mind the publicity that the industry is getting because it highlights the fact that we are undervalued, and we do the job too cheaply as well really.

"Like I say, it isn't just one issue, when our guys reach a certain number of hours, they must pull over into service stations and pay £25 a night, and you don't get any security for that, and some of the facilities like the toilets just aren't good enough for the driver to have a comfortable night away from home. 

"You hear MPs saying that companies need to make sure that drivers make it home every night, well that just isn't possible, and it shows how little they know about the industry. 

"We're governed by laws, and when a guy's driving time is up, he has to pull over for the night, but they don't seem to understand that."

After a spike in work during Brexit, Mr Pinches has said that, despite the current demand work has settled down, and the company's current contracts are keeping them busy.

He also issued a warning to prospective drivers that are considering joining the industry.

"It is a very difficult industry, you can love it or hate it," he said.

"You need to be one hundred per cent committed, you can't just think 'I'll give it a go', as you won't last very long."