Theres a lot of drivers out there who have either left the industry or wiull be leaving or retiring soon, now when I was akid it was a good job to look up to and be a trucker, nowadays sadly all it is is 44 tonne of metal and rubber blocking thne view of the motorist in a rish to get somewhere.
I dont hear younger people I know talking about working in haulage and doing our job.
Im not sure if there are figures for people coming in and going out I.E. driving licence applications compared to retirements but I just gewt the feeling that nobody wants to do the job.
What will happen if im right? will we be imporing even more drivers? or will the goods be moved elsewise?.
I really think in about 10 years maybe sooned there is going to be a MAJOR driver shortage am i right or wrong?.
i am 56 in may, i will not/wont do the dcpc at all.
so come 2014 i will hang up my keys. end of.
i will get my income from my hobby. as i wont have a mortgage.
I read an article not so long ago that said for every 10 people who leave the industry only 1 comes in. But I doubt this will mean a sudden improvement in wages and conditions to encourage people to stay in or to join.
I also don’t think we’ll see the mass incoming of drivers from other EU Countries. Poland had a massive population and high unemployment when it joined the EU and of course Britain was one of the only Countries in the EU to allow those from the new EU states unrestricted access to the work in the Country
The countries that look like joining in the near future, mainly from the former Yugoslavia don’t come near in terms of population and those that chose to leave thier Country looking for work have the entire EU to get look for it.
I think despite all it’s promises of reducing immirgration from outside the EU, I reckon after the industry bosses along with Mr Tesco and Mr Sainsburys have gone to Downing street saying that they will shortages or massive rises in the cost of living, because they can’t get cheap labour to drive thier trucks. We’ll see drivers from places like Turkey or the Ukraine maybe even India and China.
ok i have often thought of this too, ask any 14yr old these days what they wanna do when they leave school, most will say “dunno”
But as much as it pains me to say, the Stobart program, may have actually done us some good, with younger viewers, maybe just maybe, some of them will want to the job. Lets face it, we all moan about our wages, but it certainly is not the worst paid out there.
Well im 18 now and can hand on heart say all i have wanted to do is drive trucks and i still do, most of my childhood was spent going with my dad out in the wagon on every school holiday and weekend as possible, its strange how much you can miss sleeping across the engine hump of an ERF EC10 for a week on the trot, used to have drivers all the time tell me i must be crazy to even want to be a part of the industry, but i dont care its what i enjoy doing, anyway when i decided to leave school it was a case of what to do now as very little companies are employing inexperienced drivers or staff, and i wanted to do something within the industry, I am now doing an apprenticeship with DAF (in Shrewsbury if ya ever break down lol) as in my opinion it is the best way of gaining experience that a company may look for. I would still like to drive trucks in the future as thats where my passion lies but at the moment i will be sticking to the wheel tapping
Oh and have been a stobart spotter for 11 years that may have helped to lol
phantom309:
Well im 18 now and can hand on heart say all i have wanted to do is drive trucks and i still do,
But you are in a minority of people your age.
phantom309:
most of my childhood was spent going with my dad out in the wagon on every school holiday and weekend as possible,
This is a common reason for many people who’ve ended up driving trucks, but with many companies and tipping and loading points not allowing passengers, especially children, fewer now spend time in a cab of a truck to get the bug. I’m sure many children don’t even see thier dads trucks as they probably don’t even go to the yard.
phantom309:
I am now doing an apprenticeship with DAF (in Shrewsbury if ya ever break down lol) as in my opinion it is the best way of gaining experience that a company may look for. I would still like to drive trucks in the future as thats where my passion lies but at the moment i will be sticking to the wheel tapping
Good move on getting an apprenticeship, give you something to fall back on if you find that driving isn’t for you. Could even get you out of the industry if you get really sick of truck. I know an HGV mechanic who’s no going to work on wind farms.
I was talking to a guy on the portsmouth santander ferry on tues and he was saying he reckons im the youngest hes seen on that boat, and on his travels in spain, bear in mind he goes every week, and im 26.
He said it was nice to see some young keen blood that wants to learn. its a sorry tale, i mean im the same as the other guy (the 18 yr old that posted, sorry cant remember the name ) and its not good that we are the minority, it worries me about the future and the fact that we can get the eastern bloc to come and do this job and leave the rest of us looking like moaning greedy gets.
I’m like phantom got the bug from going with my dad as a kid on holidays.
As in my case i prefer to work in the garage (diesel fitter)but also get to go driving the lorries when i’m needed mostly twice a week only day runs no nights out
I’m 33 now and was the youngest in our company for years,been there since i left school 17 years,i used to get some strange looks when i was 21 pulling into places in an ERF EC14 olympic lol
I don’t think there’s gonna be alot of youngsters coming into the industry because most simply cannot afford to pay the fees involved for so little chance of getting a good full time driving job
I expect as unemployment rises to see more middle aged men getting behind the wheel, not because they want to but because the job centre is funding them to do it.
im 23 and the youngest at our company only class 2 tho at the moment, No one in my family has even been a truck driver before me. I just like being out on the road.
keano1:
Let’s hope that the “shortage” of drivers pushes wages up to realistic levels then. Supply and Demand eh?
I won’t hold my breath though !!!
Good idea, you will do yourself an injury because apparently there is a whole raft of drivers out there willing to work for free, and even being encouraged to do so by training schools.
i was the same as phantom as a kid,after spending hours riding shotgun in a 4 wheeled bedford km tipper in the early 70s i knew i would one day become a trucker,and gained my class 1 when you could go from car to artic in a week,providing you had the funds ,but the hoops you have to jump through now to get to c+e ,no wonder nobodys interested in vocational driving, and as muckles said kids in trucks seems to a big no no, so youngsters get no insight of the industry and dream of becoming like their dad,uncle,ect,as well as travelling miles in a truck as a kid,my dad used to take me to work when he had a contract near home he was a heavy plant operator on D8s and D9s thats why today i also have my tickets to operate heavy plant,but can you imagine that happening today with the h+s on sites he would be fired on the spot
jammymutt:
Im not sure if there are figures for people coming in and going out I.E. driving licence applications compared to retirements but I just gewt the feeling that nobody wants to do the job.
The last figures I recall seeing a few years ago stated something like 10,000 per year leaving the industry and only 3000 licence applications. As the local army school of driving has in excess of 1500 students per year, at least half the licence applications are for that one site alone and hardly any of them will drive commercially until they leave the forces.
Let’s face it, the industry as a whole doesn’t exactly encourage new blood. Who in their right mind would pay out all that money, £2k to £3k for training plus all the stress involved and once completed there is next to no chance of a job for at least 2 years
jammymutt:
'… I really think … there is going to be a MAJOR driver shortage am I right or wrong…?
Wrong.
The leaders of the Lib/Lab/Con parties are all rooting for Turkey & their ‘drivers’ - with inevitable shrines & ■■■■■ gubbins obscuring their windows, to invade the UK via the undemocratic & cash leeching European Union.
Hey presto - the UK will then have enough ‘drivers’.
Driver’s wages can then stay stagnated to offset the UK’s £46,000,000 a day costs for the perks of being in the EU (?)
It’s win-win-win! Turkey wins by having UK citizens pay for their child maintenance; Politicians win by securing their retirement jobs in Brussels and UK lorry driver’s win by both maintaining their 15 year-old pay rates whilst basking in the joys of multiculturalism.
Lastly, it’ll then be a self-congratulatory ‘hurrah’ from whatever colour Government the nation’s predominantly left wing media has elected to then crow “what driver shortage?”
I’m 43 and just starting out in the industry, God help me, and I’m hoping that the shortage will come sooner rather than later as I, like many other newbies have more chance of being kissed by a Giraffe than getting a job at the moment.
I do fear that vacant positions will increasingly be filled by our ‘friends’ from mainland europe and beyond. I realise that companies are restrained by insurance issues that go with newly qualified drivers but, come on, lets have just a little of the cream.
