A North Wales firm has been "inundated" with calls after offering free trucker training.
The lack of qualified HGV and LGV drivers was highlighted before Christmas with deliveries of fuel and food hit and the Road Haulage Association (RHA) has warned of a shortage of around 100,000 drivers in the Uk
Training is expensive with people having to fork out thousands of pounds to get qualified.
But Business Live and the Daily Post yesterday reported that Gatewen Training Services, based in Llay near Wrexham, had funding from Welsh Government to offer training for free.
The training would usually cost up to £3,700.
Since then they have had more than 150 calls from people in Wales interested in taking up the offer and they are now trying to process these enquiries.
All those making enquiries as to the availability of the training and criteria requirements will be contacted individually.
A spokesman for Gatewen said “The response has been way above expectations and as a result we will not be able to process any further enquiries until further notice.
"We will however set up an enquiry waiting list and if any additional funding is released by the Welsh Government, we will be glad to extend the offer.
"We can’t thank the Daily Post and Business Live enough for their support in getting the message about this fantastic training opportunity out there."
Explaining the problems in the sector a spokesman said: "The UK’s lorry driver shortage that received a lot of publicity prior to Christmas has not visibly got any better.
"The average age of a driver in the UK is 55 with less than 1% being under the age of 25.
"Approximately 2,000 drivers are leaving the industry every week, often due to retirement, with only 1,000 new recruits joining over the same period.
"Approximately 20,000 European drivers also left the UK for 'Brexit reasons'"
Gatewen Training Services themselves have just celebrated an impressive milestone having provided specialist commercial driver training throughout North Wales and the North West for over 50 years.
They are fully committed to creating training and job opportunities for people around North East Wales and some of their delivery team were at HMP Berwyn a couple of weeks ago supporting the Road to Logistics Employment Drive.
In the near future, Gatewen will be delivering LGV training on behalf of Road to Logistics whilst helping HMP Berwyn to engage with local employers and the aim of this initiative is to help men who have completed their sentence into employment and by doing so reduce reoffending rates.
Gatewen have recently been awarded the Armed Forces Covenant Employer Recognition Scheme Silver Award and also in a drive to offer mental health help and support to local men, they have set up and sponsor a men’s mental health charity https://www.pwrpas.com/.
It operates as a hub with its primary aims being to raise awareness of the mental health challenges faced by men, engage with men and encourage conversation, and to signpost men to appropriate support.
