The UK has a critical shortage of truck drivers, with some estimates the country is missing 100,000 drivers, down by at least 20 percent.

It's forced some of the UK's biggest supermarket chains, including Aldi, Tesco and Morrisons, to offer pay increases and bonuses of more than $7,000 per driver.

James Bielby, CEO of the Federation of Wholesale Distributors, says the industry has been hit by a perfect storm of events.

Bielby says Brexit convinced many Eastern European drivers to return home, then the pandemic struck and new UK tax law changes have also convinced other drivers to leave the industry.

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The shortage has been exacerbated by a backlog of prospective drivers requiring tests and the need for some drivers to go into self-isolation due to being "pinged" through the National Health Service (NHS) test and trace system.

Andre is a truck driver from Romania and has been on the road for a year. He says the average driver in the UK is much older than in Eastern Europe. Industry statistics have found the average age is 55 years in the UK.

"In my opinion I'm young, I don't feel the hours like some old guys do," Andre says.

Adrian Jones, national officer for Unite, the Union, says the problem of a shortage of drivers comes as no surprise. "If it wasn't so serious it would be laughable. These issues have been around for years," he says.

One of the big problems is retaining experienced drivers.

Kieran Smith, CEO of recruitment company Driver Require says over the years driver pay rates have been held down because of the power of large buyers, retailers and supply companies.

"They push the margins down because in the end customers want food at the cheapest price," Smith says.

However, Bielby says there is now a bidding war for drivers and "wage inflation is rife."

In response to the crisis, the government has increased the hours drivers can work and is allowing night-time deliveries. It's also discussing a special visa category to allow more qualified drivers to enter the UK.

This week, the government announced it had placed 2,000 truck drivers from the military's Royal Logistics Corp on standby to help.

Bielby says they could be used to ensure food gets to the public sector.

"If people in care homes, hospitals and prisons don't have sufficient food then there is a role for the military to intervene," Bielby says. "We are not there yet but it shows how much of a crisis there is in the UK."

Back at the South Mimms truck stop on the outskirts of London, Andre says he doesn't see a long-term future in driving.

"This is just temporary for me, I want to buy a nice car and house and then I'll be searching for something else," he says.

If others feel the same, the UK could find a shortage of drivers is here to stay for years to come.

Cover picture: Tolga Akmen/AFP