mickyblue:
every ruck driver i have seen are old ones. Not seen a young one on the road at ll.
Sure, the vast majority of drivers are coffin dodgers, but there are still plenty of young drivers out there. Youâve never seen one at all? Get yourself to the opticians. 
Iâll believe it when I see employers putting offers on sites like this one saying long distance uk/international newly qualified drivers accepted and no previous experience required.
That ainât happened since the 80s early 90s
kr79:
That ainât happened since the 80s early 90s
Trust me it never happened then either. 
Il tell my dad that who become an international driver instead of a tipper driver. in 1983 after getting chatting to a bloke in the Roebuck pub in lewisham high st he never had a passport until then let alone euro experience along with the numerous members on here who managed to get the gig back then.
There will be thousands more available at the turn of the year - Bulgaria and Romania will provide the âshortfallâ and that will soon be compensated by the TurksâŚ
It wonât happen They will just fill the cabs with ians and skis. They get eu grants to train drivers in the eastern block, while our kids have to sell a kidney. They dropped the age to 18, as most kids had got a career by 21. All they did was make it harder. Whoâs got the money to pass a test at 18? Not people from the background driving normally attracts. Then thereâs the insurance and experience problems. And the job isnât rewarding anymore. I started 12 years ago at 21. Last knockings of the good times. Enjoyable, parked up together and went for a drink, had a laugh really. And the wages were good then. Iâve never been out of work in those 12 years, but wouldnât fancy my chances if I was made redundant now. If you want new blood in the industry, stop giving grants to the flip flop and white sock brigade and help out our own 
OVLOV JAY:
It wonât happen They will just fill the cabs with ians and skis. They get eu grants to train drivers in the eastern block, while our kids have to sell a kidney. They dropped the age to 18, as most kids had got a career by 21. All they did was make it harder. Whoâs got the money to pass a test at 18? Not people from the background driving normally attracts. Then thereâs the insurance and experience problems. And the job isnât rewarding anymore. I started 12 years ago at 21. Last knockings of the good times. Enjoyable, parked up together and went for a drink, had a laugh really. And the wages were good then. Iâve never been out of work in those 12 years, but wouldnât fancy my chances if I was made redundant now. If you want new blood in the industry, stop giving grants to the flip flop and white sock brigade and help out our own
Iâve been doing class1 distance work for 17 years and the jobs never been beter. Maybe the the âgood timesâ in the job stopped for you because you didnât move with the times, rose tinted glasses are a bugger!
uk driver shortage definitely, but as said plenty of other countries folk willing to come across and do the job,its getting to ear impossible for new guys to get license, cpc and experience.
unless the govt and major industry invest in the youngsters then this country could be doomed??
a very good friends sister runs a hr consultancy company specialising in hotels, if all illegal immigrants were removed from the hotel trade then it would collapse overnight,
think is time borders were closing and not opening!!
but after saying that alot of our own need a good kick up the arse!!
All the time thereâs drivers willing to work for crap money, there is no shortage.
Shortgages start with the remainder of the working population saying NO to most things - not just in transport.
Take the negative interest rate argument for example⌠Even with talk of making savers PAY to keep their money in bank accounts (in real terms they are already of courseâŚ) there is no rush for these same savers to even draw their money out, and take it elsewhere - let alone spend it.
I imagine the same thing applies to drivers over the next decadeâŚ
Gaffer:
âHmm. Weâre really short of drivers right now, and agencies keep leaving us in the lurch/ I KNOW 
Iâll recruit some new FULL TIMERS - yes that hallowed rare breed - on the basis that in exchange for their new steady job, theyâve got to be nailed down to crap pay set that low for umpteen years tooâŚâ
Letâs be frank. How many drivers out there would accept fixed minimum wage pay for 5 years plus in exchange for a so-called âfull time jobâ.
Yeh. Full time alright - YOUR time practically given over for free! You do realise that 50-90 hour weeks will become the norm as well of course!
The best solution for agency and full time staff alike is to move to PART TIME which leaves the option of you doing more hours when you want, but not bothering when the work doesnât suit you. The way taxes are these days, less is more in any case.
Remember too folks that if the national average truckerâs age is 53, then there are too many of us oldies hanging on, and too few young ones coming up.
The labour market for truckers needs liquidity. It hasnât had it for at least a decade Iâd say.
When was the last time you could attend a job interview and expect to be asked the question âWhy do you want to leave your current employ?â to which youâd might reply:-
"More money here, Closer to where I live here, better staff support and perks here, overtime freely available here, and I even like the colour of your trucks!"
âŚwithout being shown the door for your sheer arrogance at this point. 
Liquidity increases with head hunting. It decreases with full timers trying to keep their heads down, afraid for their jobs, whilst their pay and conditions get cut by the back door anyway. 
mickyblue:
kjw21:
mickyblue:
every ruck driver i have seen are old ones. Not seen a young one on the road at ll.What do you class as old? To me (34 yrs) âoldâ means 50+ and young (regarding drivers) means 30 and below.
Anyone older then me (30)
No point being a young driver in this industry! 18 years of age to legally drive. But still a minimum of 23-25 for insurance purposes with most companies because they just canât afford the premiums to insure young drivers it makes you wonder why they lowered the age in the first place?..
Winseer:
Remember too folks that if the national average truckerâs age is 53, then there are too many of us oldies hanging on, and too few young ones coming up.The labour market for truckers needs liquidity. It hasnât had it for at least a decade Iâd say.
When was the last time you could attend a job interview and expect to be asked the question âWhy do you want to leave your current employ?â to which youâd might reply:-"More money here, Closer to where I live here, better staff support and perks here, overtime freely available here, and I even like the colour of your trucks!"
âŚwithout being shown the door for your sheer arrogance at this point.
And they donât mind taking on a newly qualified 21 year old with no experience to do international work with a drawbar outfit.
The 2 years experience thing is â â â â â â â â . I donât have two years experience but I had three full time job offers on the table when I took my current position. Itâs all about showing a bit of willing and working to get in there. Its not even a case of who you know!
I think the âtwo year ruleâ is more of a test to see who is willing and trying to find a way to get in their anyways, as they are the ones who want to do the job rather than those who got their course paid by the dole because they couldnât be assed to look for other work they were qualified for.
A lot of people take up commercial driving as a second career,meaning that they start out whilst in their 40s or 50s.
nsmith1180:
The 2 years experience thing is â â â â â â â â . I donât have two years experience but I had three full time job offers on the table when I took my current position. Itâs all about showing a bit of willing and working to get in there. Its not even a case of who you know!I think the âtwo year ruleâ is more of a test to see who is willing and trying to find a way to get in their anyways, as they are the ones who want to do the job
Depending on what type of work it is I had enough arguments with guvnors who didnât know or care that a class 2 licence covered drawbars at the time let alone the bs experience issue,as a new driver,to know that idea doesnât usually work unless that driver is ( very ) lucky for whatever reason.While those same issues apply throughout the career progression ladder.
In most other cases itâs usually that the guvnor is having problems filling the job not because of any shortage of drivers but because of the type of work which isnât in demand by as many drivers as other types of job.
alamcculloch:
A lot of people take up commercial driving as a second career,meaning that they start out whilst in their 40s or 50s.
I can vouch for that
nsmith1180:
The 2 years experience thing is â â â â â â â â âŚ
I agree, those who have said no to me have always put it down to age, one company said they can sort the experience thing out but its to expensive on insurance
alamcculloch:
A lot of people take up commercial driving as a second career,meaning that they start out whilst in their 40s or 50s.
That would be meâŚDid the proper career thing when younger.
If I had to work full time, it would not be as a driverâŚIn my opinion the facilities out on the road in the UK are inadequate, the regs are draconian and unfit for purpose regarding drivers mental and physical health.
The way in which drivers are treated in many environments is also very demoralising and I should think would lead to self esteem issues if exposed to for long periods of time.
I would say it is probably one of the most unhealthiest of occupations in every senseâŚAnd in the 21st centuary, it really has no place in it`s current form.
I would vigorously encourage any young person I know, not to go into it as an occupation.
I love it as a part time job, but then I am just a masochist and very stupid.
Iâve got drawbars on my licence, and yet Iâve not done any training on one ever - let alone driven one! 
Good job Iâm not looking for a job at the Green Machine - Thatâs Tuffnels rather than Stobarts btw! 
I can play a drawbar hammond organ though.