“Also, as a result of the new CPC regulations, haulage companies say some older drivers have chosen early retirement rather than invest the £3,000 required to obtain the CPC.”
£3k for DCPC is a bit much I think:)
This article backs up what I’ve thought all along, there is no real shortage, the industry is getting help from the media to execute scaremongering tactics. Over supply reduces demand & costs, I bet drivers aren’t seeing much in their pockets from the published rate increases.
I noticed that. Sounds a mix up of cost for initial training with DCPC recurrent training or an extra zero found its way. The loadstar are normally pretty good too. Maybe duff gen from supposed reliable source (FTA)
Further to what you say; to be fair the article does quote an opinion that references cheaper labour being imported from Europe in lieu of addressing staffing shortages by addressing pay.
“The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) said “the vast majority of drivers have met the deadline”. There are an estimated 675,000 professional drivers in Great Britain, and the DVSA said 664,000 drivers had completed the 35-hour course by the deadline.”
This makes a mockery of the claims on this forum that huge amounts of drivers have simply ignored the DCPC
This potential drivers shortage has been coming for years, and it has very little do to with DCPC, they had a restbite from it due to an influx of East European driver and the down turn in the economy.
Its do to with lack of investment in training new drivers, they just hoped that youngsters would stump up the ever increasing cost of training to get into an industry whose rates of pay and conditions of employment weren’t keeping up with others, and in most cases wouldn’t then employ them because they didn’t have the experience.
I wonder how many licence holders never actually ended driving trucks for a living having found something else whilst looking for a driving job?
It’s also to do with the retention of already qualified drivers, who paid for their licences with the hope of a good job only to find they’re treated like scum by the public, media, authorities and even their customers and employers.
And now after years of watching this happen the haulage industry wants govenment to do something about it! Well haulage bosses especially those nameless, faceless ones who run the large logistics companies. You created the problem, you sort it out!!
Are we not in fact treated like “Scum” because a driver working without incident never gets noticed by the public - merely taken for granted.
Cut them up at a roundabout, run over a cyclist, clout someone whilst half sleep on yet another 15 hour shift - with an underpaid, no speke English driver in flip-flops in the seat with a questionable license…
Suddenly, all the sins are home-grown Brit driver’s fault. Never the firms. Never the immigrants. Never the government they probably voted for in 2010…
The bankers got a pay rise after losing all our money once, then asking for a bailout, and using that to pay their Christmas bonus millions with…
This happens because in some “industries” like Banking and politicering the ‘workers’ actually get to set their own pay.
We don’t - despite the fact that without trucks this country would sink to Somalia levels within a month. There’s only so much you can deliver in a puddle jumper with some questionable right-to-remain status bod driving it for £7ph…
The shrinkage on these £7ph runs is HUGE - make no mistake… ‘Loss of stock’ is covered by insurances though. Paying “optional” higher wages, alas, is not. It all comes off the top line… It remains cheaper therefore to employ a crook on £7ph than a proper professional on a decent living wage. 
muckles:
And now after years of watching this happen the haulage industry wants govenment to do something about it! Well haulage bosses especially those nameless, faceless ones who run the large logistics companies. You created the problem, you sort it out!!
+1
If enough agencies increase their rates (payable at the same higher levels for immigrant drivers as for local talent)
Then… Firms will be forced to take on actual full timers - because there are not enough casual drivers via agency to be had.
Great, if you’re depserate for a full time job, and don’t mind being palmed off with some crappy salary…
If anyone takes those “jobs”, then the stagnant pay will be here to stay - for the full timers at least.
Meanwhile on agency?
Market forces start here… 
Doc Hollyday:
muckles:
And now after years of watching this happen the haulage industry wants govenment to do something about it! Well haulage bosses especially those nameless, faceless ones who run the large logistics companies. You created the problem, you sort it out!!+1
+2
the drivers themselves have no one else to blame for how things are but themselves
dont moan about wages as you guys are working the job for what your getting, the dcpc was a perfect chance for all drivers to make a stand but like always they go chicken.
well this driver wasnt chicken when i say i have had enough of it all then i have taken my own action to show i have had enough and i didnt bother with the cpc, i am fed up with how the job has gone over the years and all the lack of respect i get when just trying to do my job and get goods from a to b
the money is crap compared to what i was earning 15 years ago, but for me its not really about the money, its the blame game and having to cover your arse over everythng and all the red tape, trackers, even cameras will soon be standard in a cab before to long
everytime there is a change in transport its always the drivers who end up paying for it in one way or another, why ?
because the drivers themselves will not do anything about it but moan
have to say agree with desypete, if drivers stuck together then things would change.
but that wont happen in my lifetime!
it wont happen in anybody’s lifetime in haulage to much ime allright jack and stuff the rest of you trucker’s of Britain its time you got a backbone and started to stick together otherwise we are all the same monkey’s working for peanut’s and doffing our hat when the boss say’s do it
The answer is simple.
1 The money is no good .
2 The hours are long .
3 Two many agencies .
4 Two many companies using agencies (when the job is obviously permanent).
5 The job is not what it use to be (sorry I’m sixty now). Not as interesting as the 70s and 80s
I could go on but get the money up and you will get the drivers.
driver shortage. what a surprise (not).
Didn’t see anything in the article stating what a great well paid job it is.
Hard work - yes. Well rewarded - not.
The world has moved on. Transport doesn’t seem to recognise the fact.
Yes, 30 years ago the mrs was at home looking after the kids whilst Mr went off to work working all the hours god sent to earn the money to look after his family. Today’s circumstances are very different. For the majority of working people it takes two working adults wages to run a home therefore it takes two working adults to raise the family. Very difficult in this industry. Thank goodness I am not in that situation but a lot of younger drivers are.
Throw in the mix, the costs to get the licence, not much chance of a permanent job when you pass. In fact, until recently no permanent jobs on offer anywhere. Get on the Agency and try to get experience without your two years in. Irregular work, cancelled at the drop of a hat. No PAYE anymore. Sorry driver you’ve got to go s/e. Oh no, sorry again you’ve got to go LTD now. Oh and by the way, there is NO pay parity with any of the core drivers you are working with. You’ll be around 3 quid an hour down on them. But you will be able to manage all your sick and holiday pay out of £x per hour. zb.
Pick up a job you enjoy, great. But two years even four years down the line it still cheaper to employ you via the agency than to take you on permanent. Phone call - you are not required any more. Won’t even tell you to your face. No rights or protections.
There’s a recession on, we can’t afford to pay you any more money. Plenty of drivers from europe will do the work. Turning up at a new company with them saying “You’re no good to us unless you work a 15 hour shift”. So they will burn you out for 3 consecutive shifts. 45 hours (less breaks). Great if you want it but not if you need to work more than the 45 hours (poa’ing).
So, that said, anybody with financial and family committments is going to give the transport industry a wide berth and who can blame them. And more to the point, how many drivers have got the licence but left the industry prior to the CPC for other work where they can earn the same as a driver AND get a family/social life? It’s a no brainer.
Driver retention not just because of the aging workforce is also going to be exacerbated when the economy is on the “up”.
After all, doesn’t everyone try for a job that improves their working lives and give their families a better future. Whether that means better wages, working conditions or hours where you can live some kind of life outside work. What ever works for you.
Until the “big noises” in transport wake up to the fact that for a lot of potential drivers the pay and conditions just don’t stack up, They will never get the drivers they think they deserve.
As an Agency driver (as already mentioned in another thread), I have already reduced my hours prior to the CPC (I am lucky enough to do this and pay my bills). I do not see any reason to give transport the benefit of my licence and my home life for ZB money anymore. My “temporary” payrise is holding at the moment but so is my refusal to work all the hours god sends.
Apologies for the long post.
Golfball
What does this refer to?
“This massive peak in demand leads to heavy use of agency drivers, and FTA members are really worried that these drivers may not be legally ready to drive when they are needed,”
Refering to 2 yrs experience maybe, but that is nothing to do with the law?
Any ideas?
I simply don’t believe the DVSA figures they simply don’t correlate to what is happening in the real world. As to the haulage bosses causing the shambles so they can sort it out, I agree 100%.
I’d thought about being available full time through to Christmas but after this week have decided that unless there’s a serious rise in rates I’ll cut back to 2 or 3 shifts a week.
golfball100:
driver shortage. what a surprise (not).Didn’t see anything in the article stating what a great well paid job it is.
Hard work - yes. Well rewarded - not.
The world has moved on. Transport doesn’t seem to recognise the fact.
Yes, 30 years ago the mrs was at home looking after the kids whilst Mr went off to work working all the hours god sent to earn the money to look after his family. Today’s circumstances are very different. For the majority of working people it takes two working adults wages to run a home therefore it takes two working adults to raise the family. Very difficult in this industry. Thank goodness I am not in that situation but a lot of younger drivers are.
Throw in the mix, the costs to get the licence, not much chance of a permanent job when you pass. In fact, until recently no permanent jobs on offer anywhere. Get on the Agency and try to get experience without your two years in. Irregular work, cancelled at the drop of a hat. No PAYE anymore. Sorry driver you’ve got to go s/e. Oh no, sorry again you’ve got to go LTD now. Oh and by the way, there is NO pay parity with any of the core drivers you are working with. You’ll be around 3 quid an hour down on them. But you will be able to manage all your sick and holiday pay out of £x per hour. zb.
Pick up a job you enjoy, great. But two years even four years down the line it still cheaper to employ you via the agency than to take you on permanent. Phone call - you are not required any more. Won’t even tell you to your face. No rights or protections.
There’s a recession on, we can’t afford to pay you any more money. Plenty of drivers from europe will do the work. Turning up at a new company with them saying “You’re no good to us unless you work a 15 hour shift”. So they will burn you out for 3 consecutive shifts. 45 hours (less breaks). Great if you want it but not if you need to work more than the 45 hours (poa’ing).
So, that said, anybody with financial and family committments is going to give the transport industry a wide berth and who can blame them. And more to the point, how many drivers have got the licence but left the industry prior to the CPC for other work where they can earn the same as a driver AND get a family/social life? It’s a no brainer.
Driver retention not just because of the aging workforce is also going to be exacerbated when the economy is on the “up”.
After all, doesn’t everyone try for a job that improves their working lives and give their families a better future. Whether that means better wages, working conditions or hours where you can live some kind of life outside work. What ever works for you.
Until the “big noises” in transport wake up to the fact that for a lot of potential drivers the pay and conditions just don’t stack up, They will never get the drivers they think they deserve.
As an Agency driver (as already mentioned in another thread), I have already reduced my hours prior to the CPC (I am lucky enough to do this and pay my bills). I do not see any reason to give transport the benefit of my licence and my home life for ZB money anymore. My “temporary” payrise is holding at the moment but so is my refusal to work all the hours god sends.
Apologies for the long post.
Great post…I hope you post more often
Golfball
They are short as people are not interested in it anymore, been for a interview today, did a theory test, had a assessment then a chat with a department manager who must of just left school, and yes i could start tomorrow if you like, well i asked how much then , the numpty offered 7.10 a hour, i politely refused , got up and walked out , said manager then had a go at me for wasting there time !!!
They obviously think that "You are so desperate for a full time job, you’d be prepared to lickcock on demand".
Is it the fact he got you wrong that suggests he’s “just left school” by the way, or his age? 
I don’t really understand the logic of “Let’s not tell anyone just how crap the pay is, until after the interview…”
…and they say anyone who turns it down at the 11th hour stage - is wasting their time FFS? 
golfball100:
driver shortage. what a surprise (not).Didn’t see anything in the article stating what a great well paid job it is.
Hard work - yes. Well rewarded - not.
The world has moved on. Transport doesn’t seem to recognise the fact.
Yes, 30 years ago the mrs was at home looking after the kids whilst Mr went off to work working all the hours god sent to earn the money to look after his family. Today’s circumstances are very different. For the majority of working people it takes two working adults wages to run a home therefore it takes two working adults to raise the family. Very difficult in this industry. Thank goodness I am not in that situation but a lot of younger drivers are.
Throw in the mix, the costs to get the licence, not much chance of a permanent job when you pass. In fact, until recently no permanent jobs on offer anywhere. Get on the Agency and try to get experience without your two years in. Irregular work, cancelled at the drop of a hat. No PAYE anymore. Sorry driver you’ve got to go s/e. Oh no, sorry again you’ve got to go LTD now. Oh and by the way, there is NO pay parity with any of the core drivers you are working with. You’ll be around 3 quid an hour down on them. But you will be able to manage all your sick and holiday pay out of £x per hour. zb.
Pick up a job you enjoy, great. But two years even four years down the line it still cheaper to employ you via the agency than to take you on permanent. Phone call - you are not required any more. Won’t even tell you to your face. No rights or protections.
There’s a recession on, we can’t afford to pay you any more money. Plenty of drivers from europe will do the work. Turning up at a new company with them saying “You’re no good to us unless you work a 15 hour shift”. So they will burn you out for 3 consecutive shifts. 45 hours (less breaks). Great if you want it but not if you need to work more than the 45 hours (poa’ing).
So, that said, anybody with financial and family committments is going to give the transport industry a wide berth and who can blame them. And more to the point, how many drivers have got the licence but left the industry prior to the CPC for other work where they can earn the same as a driver AND get a family/social life? It’s a no brainer.
Driver retention not just because of the aging workforce is also going to be exacerbated when the economy is on the “up”.
After all, doesn’t everyone try for a job that improves their working lives and give their families a better future. Whether that means better wages, working conditions or hours where you can live some kind of life outside work. What ever works for you.
Until the “big noises” in transport wake up to the fact that for a lot of potential drivers the pay and conditions just don’t stack up, They will never get the drivers they think they deserve.
As an Agency driver (as already mentioned in another thread), I have already reduced my hours prior to the CPC (I am lucky enough to do this and pay my bills). I do not see any reason to give transport the benefit of my licence and my home life for ZB money anymore. My “temporary” payrise is holding at the moment but so is my refusal to work all the hours god sends.
Apologies for the long post.
Golfball
Good post. Sums up pretty much all the problems in one there. The place I’m at had what first appeared to be quite a significant pay rise for their drivers back in August, in order to attract more full-timers to cover their contracts instead of relying on agy and s/e all year round. The drivers thought all their birthdays and christmas’s had come at once when their new rates were announced but now after being on them for a month they’re finding that on average they’re no better off than what they were on the previous crap rates! The new rates now don’t pay overtime until 52.5 hrs (after breaks factored in) and the previous separate weekend rates have now been scrapped in exchange for a higher basic rate. Of course, predictably, what has happened is the office now run them ragged for their first 3 shifts and then on day 4 and 5 they’re parked up after 8 hours meaning that they’re never seeing the overtime rate. Unsurprisingly the company are still having management meetings about problems recruiting drivers and can’t understand why as they think they’re offering very attractive rates.
The linked article made for interesting reading, in particular this bit :
He added that it had led to increased waiting time for an available vehicle and led to much higher rates, with the immediate carriage of a 20ft container from Tilbury to the Midlands costing £1,200 instead of the normal £500.
Shipping lines’ haulage arms are also seeing longer lead times and higher rates. Maersk Line now requires a week’s notice on a container collection, while MOL announced a £100 surcharge on bookings between 9am and 12pm from Southampton. OOCL will increase haulage rates by £80 per container from September 22.
This will eventually filter down the pipe to us. At the moment they’re all sat around their boardroom desks scratching their heads wondering what can be done about it, but ultimately if they want their stuff moving any time soon they have no other option but to dig deeper and offer too-good-to-refuse money to the driver market. It will take some time before it happens on a large scale as they’ll all be waiting to see who blinks first but like the article says, the “perfect storm” has been created. It’ll be interesting watching how this pans out.