let's talk to richard burnett, ceo of the road haulage association. thank you forjoining us.rage age of amongst drivers. the average age of a driver is 56. we have less than 1% under 25. we have lots of people retiring and nobody coming in. the barrier to entry is the cost of getting a licence. it cost anything from 3000 to £5,000. the other side of it is in terms of eu labour, you've got somewhere in the region of 60,000 eu drivers driving in the uk and we are seeing a high proportion of those going back home because of the brexit effect. whether that is exchange rates of whether or not they want some certainty in terms of their future, and that's exacerbating this driver shortage. it's increased this year from about 55,000 to 60,000. we are really concerned about the potential impact post brexit. why do we need so many drivers? why is it important to the uk economy? if you think about it, 90% of all goods consumed in the uk are at some point in time delivered on the back of a truck. we keep the uk economy going, we keep the supply chain going. it's a critical part to making

the chief executive of the road haulage association is at number ten today to discuss brexit and theand joins me now. thank you for coming today and it is important to remind our viewers of the chief concerns of the industry. we need a deal, whether it is this deal with nip and tuck or a shot of botox, we are not too bothered, but we need a deal. the alternative is a cliff edge brexit which has very serious implications for our industry. remember that this deal is a divorce deal, and that triggers a transition period, which is vital for our industry to get ready for some new trade arrangement, a new border and customs arrangement, in the longer term. so if you need a deal and the main deal that is on offer at the moment is theresa may‘s deal, what does the industry think of that? does the industry have concerns or is it reasonably happy with the parameters of the deal?‘ deal is the most important thing, as i have said. and if you look at the alternative, a cliff edge brexit on the 29th of march with no transition, that is a very, very serious situation for the road haulage industry.