Thought members would be fascinated to see this newsflash from the FTA:
FTA Driver Shortage Report:
analysis highlights reliance on EU nationals
A new analysis of professional drivers by the Freight Transport Association (FTA) released today shows a drop in driver shortages across the UK but highlights the sector’s reliance on staff from the European Union.
The independent ‘Driver Shortage: issues and trends’ report, prepared for FTA by RepGraph Ltd, calculates the shortfall between the number of registered HGVs and the number of qualified drivers is 34,567 - back to the pre driver crisis levels of 2012. This is attributed to an increased number of employed truck drivers and rising salaries, on average twice the rate of inflation through overtime and bonuses.
However, FTA says the challenge for vehicle operators is far from over with only 530 unemployed drivers claiming benefit in August 2016, meaning there is no pool of qualified drivers on which employers can draw. This is especially relevant at peak times, such as the run-up to Christmas.
Uncertainty over Brexit, poor roadside facilities for drivers and the high cost of licence acquisition are all impacting on the sector.
FTA Deputy Chief Executive James Hookham said: “The report highlights the industry’s reliance on EU nationals, with more than 30,000 – 10 per cent of the entire driver workforce – currently employed in the UK.
“The uncertainty about their employment rights and status once Britain leaves the EU is a major concern for businesses. We urge the Government to ensure its Brexit negotiations afford special status to logistics and allow for this employment to continue so that the industry is not hit by another driver shortage crisis.
“We also need better roadside facilities - especially if we are going to attract more women into the industry - and more help from Government with the cost of acquiring a vocational licence, which is often cited as a barrier to recruitment.”
Encouragingly, the report shows the average age of newly qualified drivers is 34 (compared with 48 for the overall driver population) meaning over half of those who took a HGV driving test last year were under the age of 35. And women who take the test are still more likely to pass it than men!
FTA will publish the report on a six-monthly basis to provide a clear bassline analysis of the state of the industry.
If there was a genuine shortage then training schools would have their trainees snatched as soon as they passed by companies offering permanent full time jobs
No, what there’s a shortage of is decent firms paying decent money for decent hours, it doesn’t matter how many hairy arses (female or otherwise) they put in training vehicles the only people benefiting from that is the trainers!
Reef:
No, what there’s a shortage of is decent firms paying decent money for decent hours, it doesn’t matter how many hairy arses (female or otherwise) they put in training vehicles the only people benefiting from that is the trainers!
Isn’t that the point at which cheap Eastern European drivers come in? The press release says that 1 in 10 drivers are now from the EC, and many of those are on rock bottom wages, with earning less than the minimum wage . .
Its the low pay, crap hours, lack of facilitys, being ripped of at sevice areas for parking drinks and food, the presure of the office on your back all the time and all the other ■■■■■ we have to deal with that people are chucking it in
I wonder why the FTA never mention the real reasons nobody wants to do this cr*p job? I.e. Long, unsociable hours, compulsory overtime, same hourly rate of pay as it was 12 years ago, the inability to plan an evening out with the wife because you’ve no idea what time you’re going to be home, sitting around for hours on end waiting for someone on a forklift to unload 3 pallets. The list of reasons not to do this job is endless.
The driver shortage is always blamed on the cost of the licence, utter rubbish. I know several people with the Hgv licence that simply will not do the job for the reasons above!!
Shortage of licence holders? No. Shortage of lorry drivers? Possibly. Apart from the often discussed steering wheel attendants who will never be lorry drivers as long as holes in their botties there is a huge number of licence holders who have never even entered this profession as they have what they consider to be far better lives doing other trades.
I think official bodies often make the mistake of thinking that there are X number of licences issued so that means that there are X number of potential lorry drivers. Wrong!
Edit to add; just posted after Micky mouse there and basically he raises the same point.
Those office guys live in their own world. At least they made their goal clear: make sure after eu drivers can work here after brexit for 9-8-7 quid. Thanks for being honest fta
It’s all about perspective. I could name you a load of firms paying minimum wage, who put their own short comings down to the so called “driver shortage”. I can also name you a fair few firms that pay such a wage that they never have recruitment troubles. Ford are probably the benchmark in our area. Regularly have over 100 applicants per job, not bad considering they only advertise internationally and outsiders need to be sponsored by an employee.
Any real shortage - cannot manifest itself until the supply of sub-standard drives is blocked.
I’m not talking about EE drivers here - but the “9 points OK” variety. Undeclared medical conditions, regular takers of drugs & alcohol, or even “held a clean licence for years, but have not used it”.
There seems to be some fear in the marketplace that to “raise wages” at any point - would somehow encourage the latter brand of driver to start “showing an interest”, which apparently is to be avoided at all costs.
There doesn’t seem to be much political look at those drivers as and when they get busted for various offences.
You don’t get to “lose” your licence if you “nearly” kill someone or “nearly” fall asleep with sleep apnoea etc.
Meanwhile, DVLA are more concerned about “Heart Attack Risk” among active drivers than they are about “Brain Blood Clot” risk, which unlike a Heart attack - drops you in your tracks.
We read lots of stories of drivers who manage to pull up their truck before dying of a heart attack - but not of those trucks that have merely “gone off the road, driver found dead in cab” where anyone has bothered to do a Post Mortem and discovered things like Berry Aneurysms, Massive Stroke, etc.
More care should be taken over those with blot clot issues then I suggest. You’re not allowed to get a license in the first place - if you have Epilepsy for example. So why not also deny licences to those with a history of blood disorders in the family as well? “Falling asleep at the wheel” is also a lot more likely if you have a blood disorder that can knock you out at the wheel, from say, diabetic coma.
Too much is done to massage the statistics I suggest. The only part of this that involves EEs is “I bet not many are tested for the more serious genetic disorders” and “I bet not much looking into is done to those actual pro drivers that have been rubber-stamped by an EE Doctor”. That “Well Man Medical” is hardly going to pick up something that could have you drop dead next week - is it?
Radar19:
What they are basically saying is. “We want a guarantee that our cheap labour force will still be allowed to work after Brexit”.
That’s about the size of it.
Said it before, say it again. If you can get an HGV driver for pennies more than the minimum wage, then there isn’t a shortage of them.
Possession is 9/10ths of the law. You can get a blow for a fiver in some places, a manager for £7k in others.
Generally though - you cannot. There’s only so much “ignorance” that can be fostered upon the workforce to get the unwary (such as newly-arrived EEs) to drive a truck for sub-standard money.
As time goes on, I predict that there will be less and less EEs taking up driving jobs, (as they wise up) and more “dodgy background” Calais types taking those substandard pay jobs instead. If you’ve got no papers - they can’t prove you don’t hold a licence if you can apparently “do the job” after all.
It’s ignorance amongst the qualified then I suggest that gets a skilled person to work for sub-standard money.
The time where firms can get away with employing any old bulls hitter who’s happy just to get their foot in the door - must surely be close to coming to an end now?
Here’s another reason to add why things are crap…some of our very own drivers!!
I was chatting to a couple of drivers yesterday at B&M. We got onto the standard drivers chat about crap wages.
Myself and one driver said we were on £10 per hour, the other driver (Helsby Longden) said he was on…£8.33 an hour
I asked him why he bothers working for that wage and his reply was " I am retiring next November so it will do me until then ".
So there we have it folks; I AM ALRIGHT JACK. Until drivers start boycotting these w@nk wages and leave this dross to the ever grateful EE’s, things will not get any better. If the flip flops want to work like dogs for £8 an hour, let them.
