The findings come from a survey of the public released by the UK Major Ports Group (UKMPG), the trade association for the UK’s largest port operators.
More than two thirds of the public believe that transport and delivery workers should be more appreciated by us all while half of those questioned think more about how goods are transported and where their online deliveries come from than they did pre-pandemic.
Tim Morris, Chief Executive of the UK Major Ports Group, commented: “Historically hidden or overlooked, workers driving trucks, unloading ships in ports or operating warehouses are now much better appreciated by the British public. More of the public have also woken up to the complex, sophisticated supply chains that deliver our just in time lives and businesses.
“Despite the extraordinary pressures of the pandemic, Brexit and global disruptions, the logistics industries and their workers have shown incredible resilience. We want to see the Government build on this public appreciation and improve the connectivity infrastructure, the development rules and the support for green solutions that logistics needs to keep delivering for the UK.”
Other key findings:
• Sixty-eight per cent of survey respondents agreed or strongly agreed that those who work in delivery and logistics deserve more appreciation than they get.
• Appreciation for logistics workers has increased more over the last six months than for occupations such as teachers or the police
• Almost two-thirds (65%) of respondents said that their respect for HGV drivers had increased more or much more over the last six months, a pattern followed by perceptions of warehouse workers (54%) and port workers (50%), relative to teachers (46%) and police officers (39%).
Awareness of the supply chains and delivery systems these workers make happen increased too. Nearly half the public (48%) agreed or strongly agreed with the statement: ‘I think more about the process by which goods are transported and delivered to me than I did a few years ago’.
The same share of the public (48%) agree or strongly agree with the statement: ‘I pay more attention to where the things I order online come from than I used to at the start of the year.’
But awareness is not the same as understanding it seems. Only 24% of people are ‘quite confident’ or ‘very confident’ they could describe how an item of clothing got from where it was made to their house or a shop.