Hauliers are urging the Scottish Government to provide more support for apprenticeships amid claims a lorry driver shortage is threatening Christmas deliveries.
Jack Semple, director of policy at the Road Haulage Association (RHA), said he would like ministers to revisit the issue.
He said a “sea change” was required in the current funding structure, and that it did not suit the industry.
He also advocated a government contribution towards the £3,000 cost companies face in getting each apprentice trained and through the licence test.
His comments came at the start of the first ever Love a Lorry Week, organised by the association which represents more than 8,000 UK trucking companies.
Events will be held across the country to highlight the driver shortage and promote the industry as an attractive career.
Under EU law, anyone aged over 18 can drive a large goods vehicle (LGV), but the industry is concerned about the lack of youngsters coming through.
RHA chief executive, Richard Burnett, said: “We are short of between 45,000 and 50,000 drivers and the situation is getting worse.
“This shortage is grave and presents a real threat to Christmas and to economic growth.”
He also criticised the UK Government’s proposed apprenticeship levy, announced in the summer Budget.
Holyrood has responsibility for apprenticeships in Scotland as they are devolved, but the charge, to be imposed on larger firms, would be UK-wide.
Chancellor George Osborne said it would fund another three million apprenticeships, but Mr Burnett dismissed it as “little more than a tax on payroll”.
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills confirmed a supply chain LGV driver apprenticeship standard for England was currently being developed by logistics companies.
Asked what should happen in Scotland, Mr Semple said: “What we would like is for them to revisit what a lorry apprenticeship looks like, to have it include the training for the licence acquisition.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said it had delivered more than 100,000 new Modern Apprenticeships (MA) over the last four years.
He went on: “We have been clear with the UK Government that we need much more detail on what the potential impacts of the apprenticeship levy will be on employers in Scotland.”