I keep hearing of the term( DRIVER SHORTAGE). There can’t be a shortage of drivers because I am finding it difficult to get work as are a few of my mates.
We all live within 1hr of Dover so we are well placed, but it seems crazy that we just can’t seem to find anything!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!! (That’s me getting frustrated!!!)
Smudger
im with you mate , i reckon this so called driver shortage is made up by agencies , i have seen them do it ! , how many lorries are stood in a yard with no driver ?
It’s been stated on here before it’s not so much a driver shortage to move the loads it’s a driver shortage to man the capacity to shift loads. That’s why so many companies are chasing work that doesn’t pay enough to take a profit.
Smudger, I can sympathise with your bemusment but how many journeys start of finish at Dover? In truth very few. The loads simply passes through. Now I’d bet good money that were there aren’t large number of production, warehousing or distribution facilities near by or there would be more work available from a local company.
Have you tried approaching some of the bigger hauliers that run into/through Dover even if they are based elswhere? You may get a start though have to be up the road much of the week. 
Yeah. May be you are right. It doesn’t bother me who I work for as I am on my own, so being away for long periods has never really bothered me.
It’s just that I dont know who will take me on mate. I’ve been driving for 20 yrs across Europe and I know my way around a bit but i’m not sure who would be interested.
the big firms in leeds just fill all the gaps with agency.
There are plenty of unattended trailers coming across on the ferries, and someone is providing traction for them; need to find out out who. Guy I was working with a bit ago was going to work for Nobby Dirtymangle out of Dover. One week in UK, one week in the swamp with the frogs. Mike Beer in Dover does not have a good reputation, but there is a couple of others, but I can never remember their names. 
Do a search as there were quite a few Dover companies mentioned on another thread not so long ago.
Over here in the states, we supposedly have a ‘driver shortage’, but it’s really mostly a false over-abundance of loads, caused by bottom-feeding shippers booking with multiple low-cost carriers, then giving the load to the first one that actually shows up. A lot of the owners of these small-potato companies look at all the ‘no-loads’ they get, and think “Gee, if only I had a few more drivers, maybe I won’t lose so many loads”.
In reality, these owners offer laughably low wages and get few takers. They are buying in to the shipper’s game then passing along this falacy. In reality, if every trucking company would institute a policy of never again doing business with a shipper that pulls this kind of a stunt, the mysterious ‘driver shortage’ would disappear overnight.
It’s the same over here Alex…not so much not enough drivers as too many trucks…
I’m sure natural selection and wastage will do their thing in the long run, not that that’s of much consolation to people like SMUDGER who are caught up in the aftermath. 