AndrewG:
‘Lifestyle’ choice…more like a couple of weeks in Gt yarmouth. The pay is pretty dismal all round going by this very forum alone, 14shillings and sixpence extra at xmas doesnt go far…
Have you been to Gt Yarmouth lately?? if you had you wouldn’t be rushing back any time soon … Just like passing the border at Frankfurt de Oder !!
madmackem:
Trucker shortage threatens Brexit boom with 45,000 jobs to fill
I’ve been hearing about the “driver shortage” since the early 2000s and its still not happened. The “shortage” appears to be based on us doing 37.5 hours per week like normal people do.
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discoman:
muckles:
They want the government to ease the burden by stumping up £3.5 million to support lorry-driver apprenticeships and claim it would save taxpayers £30 million in the long run.
Road Haulage Association boss Richard Burnett said: “The industry is doing all it can to promote itself as an excellent employment opportunity.
“Yet without financial support from the government, and without drivers, the industry on which the rest of the economy is so dependent will be going nowhere.”
Bosses are also appealing to women but fear many are put off by the poor state of truck stop loos at motorway and roadside services.
If the RHA put as much effort into getting its members to fix the real problems in the industry, as they do trying to get public money and telling people it’s a great job, they might actually make the job a attractive to people.
I cant see how telling a 21 year old, hey you can work up to 70 hours a week, a few 15 hour days, 9 hours off, be messed around constantly always get grief from both ends … pay for the privilege … oh, and be paid minimum wage. how can they realistically promote the job as attractive?? … if it was 9 hour shifts max, and 18 quid an hour then yes … but why would a shelf stacker at a supermarket on 10 quid want to waste 3k and a DCPC every five years etc …
Not forgetting zero sick pay in a job not famous for its health supporting attributes.Statutary pay would see the baliffs activated in most cases for drivers after a couple of months absence I would wager.This to me is the real elephant in the room.
The real shortage might and I stress might kick in next Sept (2019) as most of the CPC renwals happen .
Many older drivers who would work past retirement do not seem to be willing to do this , because of CPC, conditions , poor facilities and lack of appreciation or respect .
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grumpyken52:
The real shortage might and I stress might kick in next Sept (2019) as most of the CPC renwals happen .
Many older drivers who would work past retirement do not seem to be willing to do this , because of CPC, conditions , poor facilities and lack of appreciation or respect .Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk
Didn’t everyone say this regarding 2015 though, when everyone supposedly wouldn’t take up the initial CPC deadline?
Will_161:
grumpyken52:
The real shortage might and I stress might kick in next Sept (2019) as most of the CPC renwals happen .
Many older drivers who would work past retirement do not seem to be willing to do this , because of CPC, conditions , poor facilities and lack of appreciation or respect .Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk
Didn’t everyone say this regarding 2015 though, when everyone supposedly wouldn’t take up the initial CPC deadline?
Everyone said when speed limiters came in, we would need more drivers to cover the work…
Will_161:
grumpyken52:
The real shortage might and I stress might kick in next Sept (2019) as most of the CPC renwals happen .
Many older drivers who would work past retirement do not seem to be willing to do this , because of CPC, conditions , poor facilities and lack of appreciation or respect .Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk
Didn’t everyone say this regarding 2015 though, when everyone supposedly wouldn’t take up the initial CPC deadline?
A brief informal poll on other sites showed a fair number who won’t be renewing and at the company that I last worked for a significant proportion of drivers would not be continuing after next September .
It would be interesting to see a comparison of numbers of still valid licence holders and those actually using them for work .
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grumpyken52:
It would be interesting to see a comparison of numbers of still valid licence holders and those actually using them for work .Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk
I know, I know, I know Sir! This came up on my DCPC yesterday as it happens (obviously knowing this number makes me a more rounded professional) IIRC the number of licence holders who have never driven professionally and have no intention of doing so is around 110000 in the U.K. I’d imagine a large number of these will be ex forces and the like.
the maoster:
grumpyken52:
It would be interesting to see a comparison of numbers of still valid licence holders and those actually using them for work .Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk
I know, I know, I know Sir! This came up on my DCPC yesterday as it happens (obviously knowing this number makes me a more rounded professional) IIRC the number of licence holders who have never driven professionally and have no intention of doing so is around 110000 in the U.K. I’d imagine a large number of these will be ex forces and the like.
The government has already done it, not at home so can’t get the figures, but basically enough licence holders, even dcpc holders i believe, out there to cover what the industry says it needs, so obviously many have the qualifications to drive and choose not to.
Upto a few weeks ago, there were a number of multidrop C2 jobs going at Aylesford. When P&H went down, those dropped C2 drivers suddenly found a place welcoming them with open arms, so those same drivers never got to hit the open market.
“Shortages” will be for those poor condition/poor contract work rather than the lower paid stuff I reckon.
I still can’t understand how come there’s more will to do UK tramping than C2 work myself - not when the former still pays under £30k in places, with the latter paying over that for early doors C2 shifts. 
Winseer:
Upto a few weeks ago, there were a number of multidrop C2 jobs going at Aylesford. When P&H went down, those dropped C2 drivers suddenly found a place welcoming them with open arms, so those same drivers never got to hit the open market.“Shortages” will be for those poor condition/poor contract work rather than the lower paid stuff I reckon.
I still can’t understand how come there’s more will to do UK tramping than C2 work myself - not when the former still pays under £30k in places, with the latter paying over that for early doors C2 shifts.
…because some of us find C2 work soul destroying. It’s job satisfaction, it’s not about the money.
Deleted duplicate post…
This is a quite from the Parliamentary report on the drivers shortage, the figures were obtained from the DVLA, by somebody doing a report on the shortage of HGV drivers.
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmselect/cmtrans/68/6805.htm
We also found evidence to suggest claims of a driver shortage were over-stated. A recent article suggested that as many as 80,000 drivers aged 25–44 had an LGV licence and DQC but did not work as drivers (possibly maintaining their entitlement to drive in case other career choices did not work out).48 Data from the DVLA show there are more than enough people either licensed or licensed and qualified to drive LGVs but for a number of reasons they choose not to work as drivers (see figure 5);
from another article
http://www.aricia.ltd.uk/Temp/ThereIsNoShortage120116.pdf
There is no driver shortage
I’m going to contradict what I’ve only recently put in writing, so let me explain: my conclusion is that most people who have gone to some cost, time and effort to get qualified as HGV drivers do not use those qualifications.
While I continue to be very concerned about the driver age profile, I now disagree with some of my previous conclusions, including that driver numbers have become a national issue. In part, I fell into a trap of believing that what some parties in our industry were saying.
I’m now back where I started, believing that our industry needs to stop moaning and put its money where its mouth is.
grumpyken52:
The real shortage might and I stress might kick in next Sept (2019) as most of the CPC renwals happen .
Many older drivers who would work past retirement do not seem to be willing to do this , because of CPC, conditions , poor facilities and lack of appreciation or respect .Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk
In 2014 as well to many people talk who will callaps and nobody will takes Cap and shelf in store will empty.But I still not see empty shelf and not see any report who some load was not moved because no drivers.Sometime simply some technical drivers shortage happened.
lumpygreenpoo:
Winseer:
Upto a few weeks ago, there were a number of multidrop C2 jobs going at Aylesford. When P&H went down, those dropped C2 drivers suddenly found a place welcoming them with open arms, so those same drivers never got to hit the open market.“Shortages” will be for those poor condition/poor contract work rather than the lower paid stuff I reckon.
I still can’t understand how come there’s more will to do UK tramping than C2 work myself - not when the former still pays under £30k in places, with the latter paying over that for early doors C2 shifts.
…because some of us find C2 work soul destroying. It’s job satisfaction, it’s not about the money.
…There was me thinking that “Soul Destroying” was the argument made of spending 20 nights out a month tramping. 
I’d suggest both tramping and C2 work are for the younger, fitter driver looking to gain experience of driving around places like London.
I wouldn’t want to to back to it now, for sure - but I didn’t mind it whilst I was in my 20’s.
muckles:
This is a quite from the Parliamentary report on the drivers shortage, the figures were obtained from the DVLA, by somebody doing a report on the shortage of HGV drivers.https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmselect/cmtrans/68/6805.htm
We also found evidence to suggest claims of a driver shortage were over-stated. A recent article suggested that as many as 80,000 drivers aged 25–44 had an LGV licence and DQC but did not work as drivers (possibly maintaining their entitlement to drive in case other career choices did not work out).48 Data from the DVLA show there are more than enough people either licensed or licensed and qualified to drive LGVs but for a number of reasons they choose not to work as drivers (see figure 5);
from another article
http://www.aricia.ltd.uk/Temp/ThereIsNoShortage120116.pdfThere is no driver shortage
I’m going to contradict what I’ve only recently put in writing, so let me explain: my conclusion is that most people who have gone to some cost, time and effort to get qualified as HGV drivers do not use those qualifications.
While I continue to be very concerned about the driver age profile, I now disagree with some of my previous conclusions, including that driver numbers have become a national issue. In part, I fell into a trap of believing that what some parties in our industry were saying.
I’m now back where I started, believing that our industry needs to stop moaning and put its money where its mouth is.
Very good, the ‘driver shortage’ manufactured by the haulage industry in the hope of getting the taxpayer to cover its training costs is exposed as the sham that many people always knew it was.
It’s just a shame that despite the conclusions from the Parliamentary report mostly being what many of us think, that pay, conditions and facilities won’t improve and the Industry will continue to run it’s PR campaigns in the media, basically asking for the government to fund the training of loads of new drivers.
24.We believe that a major reason for the driver shortage is a shortage of people willing to work in the sector rather than a shortage of people with the right qualifications and licences. It seems to us that the apparent shortage will get worse unless action is taken to improve retention and increase recruitment.
32.We conclude that there is no single cause for the driver shortage but a combination of a number of factors make the job less attractive than it was. It is imperative that the industry takes steps to improve the terms and conditions so it can recruit and retain the drivers it needs. The industry, supported by the Government, will need to invest more in recruitment, training and driver welfare following years of under-investment. We acknowledge that this is challenging for many of the smaller operators, especially given the very tight margins operators face. To improve conditions it will be necessary to address the inadequate facilities provided currently for drivers. It will also be necessary to promote the sector better in schools and colleges. We are also concerned about the terms and conditions under which some agency drivers are required to work.
41.The driver shortage has resulted in a dependence on agency and particularly foreign drivers that goes beyond what is needed to cope with seasonal variations and is now necessary to sustain normal operation. The dependence on agency staff means that operators in the sector are probably not investing enough in their staff. We think this creates two risks that need to be managed. First, if the UK becomes relatively less attractive as a place for foreign drivers to work, as it may do as the consequences of Brexit play out, the shortage could become much more acute, possibly quite rapidly. Second, the longer-term sustainability of the UK’s road haulage sector could be undermined if there is not a steady stream of people through the sector gaining the skills and experience that they need to become transport managers and operators.