Truck driver shortage , reap what you sow !

[billysboy]

So there are going to be shortages of various goods and petrol because of a delivery driver shortage and listening to Charlie on bbc breakfast it is all because of brexit / covid etc

With 600k qualified HGV drivers but only 300k currently employed in the industry surely it point to the undesirability of that line of work !
It would also point to a business model built on cheap labour

For the last 30 years or more we have all looked down at these manual jobs and trades and encouraged our kids to go to Uni , not all of these kids will be surgeons or cpatains of industry
These truck drivers and other staff shortages nurses etc need to be recognised for their skills and responsibilities and paid higher wages with better conditions
If that means we all dont have the choice in supermarkets that we have all got used to and have to pay more for

certain items then hey ho
Enticing more foreign drivers back or cheap labour is the solution that got us here in the first place

Agree OP, and a lot of the blame lies with the creation of Tax Credits - a subsidy to keep wages low.

People who got a free degree tuition, free grants funded by their peers (the UK truckers are apparently mostly 40+ and had to pay thousands themselves to train) and now earn a great income and lifestyle (I gather many are divorced due to the nature of the career) compared to Truckers.

Also the pay and working conditions make the job hard for anyone with a family, it used to be a decent career with time off and regular shifts and I understand it's practically zero hours now with phone calls at short notice and unrealistic deadlines. (I understand from a news report).
This same repeated for loads of other skilled trade/hands on jobs.

Whilst I watch people get deliveroo to drop their morning Mcdonalds off I just really wonder about the state of affairs in this country , not a quick fix by any means
These jobs should not be sneered at as a career path and should be decently remunerated

I can't see the current government endorsing a fair days work for a fair days pay, housing is the biggest problem - I think a lot of structural societal issues would be addressed if we had a cheap and bountiful rental market of good quality.

This was why many people voted for Brexit in the first place, because they perceived that cheap European labour from people willing to work for poor pay and conditions was stagnating pay and undercutting British workers with higher costs of living to absorb.

The market will now need to address it. Employers will have to pay a fair wage if they want to attract staff, and that will then also be borne by consumers. I’m not sure people always make the connection between the fairer society in countries like Norway and Sweden, and the incredibly high cost of living there.

Trucking is in my family for three generations.

The last few years have got bad.

Bad conditions bad pay bad greedy bosses and companies taking it in while getting drivers to illegally go over hours and dodge time sheets.

Very common amongst the hgv world unfortunately

Tables are now turning and finally companies are being held to account and finally made to pay a decent wage.

Yes it means the cost of things go up similar in places like Switzerland as in the cost of living is higher but the salaries are also higher.

All relative however paying people their worth is how it should be.

There are too many large employers who have got away with shit pay and conditions for far too long in this country.

Now they're all panicking and paying massive bonuses to try and tempt people.

It serves them right.

People need to be valued. It works both ways.

It's very worrying about how bad this winters going to be. Especially if we have really bad weather too with undriveable conditions.

Sure it points to one thing and one thing only. Be prepared for your cost of living to go up.

You can now earn £60k as a lorry driver, but until conditions are sorted for them many won’t take the opportunity. They have to put up few formal rest stops, for overnight stays, those they can stay at have very little by way of facilities. They put up with shit from other drivers, and from people cross that they have to stop outside shops to offload

Not a job I would want, but one that’s necessary

I agree, these essential workers need to be properly valued.

It's awful that conditions have been so poor. It doesn't matter that they were "cheap labour", they still should have been provided with basic standards.

My dp is a HGV driver, they have not had their wages increased to 60k, not even close. They were on 26k, it's now been upped to 27k. They have also been given the potential to get a £500 bonus every quarter depending on performance and attendance. There's another bonus dependant on how much profit the company makes each year, lowest is £1500, highest £3000, and a 2k bonus each year at your starting date if you continue to work for the company. He's looked at other companies to see what they are offering. Standard seems to be 30k for day work and 35k for night work. This is for those who come home after every shift unless they run out of hours. It's more for long haul but he doesn't want to have to sleep at the roadside. We have a baby due in January so he wants to stay put for now in secure employment, but is keeping an eye on better offers from other companies.

Yes the world needs to prioritise what’s important. My dad was a lorry driver and even then it was hard work, we need to sort people’s expectations regarding work. We need to make sure anyone who can work does. We need to accept the cost of living will sky rocket over the next few years.

This is just the beginning of life getting a lot harder

The up to 60k comments are very much media spiel and in most cases will be what agency workers could get if lucky enough to work a full card each week. It’s not what your average driver will be getting.

And don’t forget any figures are based on a 65 hour plus week. Working away all week. Sleeping in your cab. Struggling to find places to wash. Having people complaining if you drive up their road or park legally near them (yet these people still want things to run smoothly and shops to be full)

Even getting to be a HGV driver costs a fortune. Then you have to cover the costs of Medicals etc too along the way. The food vouchers and night out money you get rarely cover the actual costs. It’s easy to become very isolated if your out every night parked up somewhere different alone.

it's a hard job and I am pleased to see wages rise and hopefully terms and conditions improve. You could certainly argue it's a potential benefit of Brexit. Some of my family are in similar roles that have been impacted by lowering of wages and now there are worker shortages and they are all seeing their pay increase. I am pleased for them to be valued properly for the work they do.

Yep, those who thought foreigners were taking all of the jobs...it has been sorted.
You have the perfect opportunity to train and work.

This shows that Furlough should have ended months ago. To get people to retrain from unviable jobs into viable ones.

My DH is a HGV driver and recently changed roles within the same company for better pay and hours. The way HGV drivers are treated is disgusting they need decent places to stop where they are safe and have the facilities they need and they need decent pay but before any of that they need employers who maintain the vehicles properly and support their staff instead of pushing them to go out in lorries with multiple defects and to go over hours.

Absolutely correct op. Delivery drivers and care workers are so underpaid and undervalued. Where I live the care home nearby pays minimum wage for twelve hour working night shift. These roles so need to be valued.

HGV drivers on minimum wage or just above were having to work 60-70 hr weeks to live. I spoke to one guy recently who works part time and got up at 5.30 am in Leeds to make a delivery to South Cumbria. He is 65 and part time but his employers are asking him to come back full time. It has been unsustainable for some time and now it is reaching a crisis. On BBC Breakfast this morning a cabinet member was asking retired workers to continue returning, but to what - long, underpaid hours of work where you work so many hours you do not see your family?

They want foreign workers back to plug the gap, workers who will tolerate poor terms and conditions. But we cannot keep using a sticking plaster to cover the real issues.

Is it not comparable to Rail Network pay and conditions surely? They are crucial workers and food, petrol, building trade etc cannot function without these drivers.

All I see reported in the news is an acknowledgment that the shortage of drivers is due to covid Brexit AND POOR PAY AND WORKING CONDITIONS.

In the very next breath it is reported that the government is working on getting more tests opened and possibly thinking about visas to bring people over to work.

NOT ONCE has the government mentioned that the it is going to address the fundamental reasons why people who are qualified won’t got back to the role ie

They need better and free parking facilities for their rest breaks and overnight so that they have access to food toilets showers and safety from thefts.

They need to be respected on the road with heavier penalties for people overtaking and then plonking themselves into the gap the driver needs for his breaking distance.

Fines on the spot for warehouses who illegally refuse drivers access to a toilet.

Better standards of pay to reflect the responsibilities and professionalism of the job.

Better access to doctors to do their regular medicals and better service from DVLA who are grossly incompetent and obstructive when processing license renewals

Removal of CPC or at least having the course and time paid for by employer or government.

Removal of infringement fines for drivers hours to the driver and have the fines placed solely on the employer who makes them go over their hours. Or those employers who send them with unsafe loads.
Not have it all on the driver who often is told to suck it up or have no job.

Public campaign to make the public aware of the needs of drivers so that people respect them more on the road.

I could go on and on

But no the solutions presented so far continues to be pass the buck on to unsuspecting new drivers or those from overseas who can go home and avoid paying fines

Braking distance*

With 600k qualified HGV drivers but only 300k currently employed in the industry surely it point to the undesirability of that line of work !

It points to the fact that the "problem" would vanish overnight if we paid people enough to convince them to do the job. (We will all pay the cost indirectly, as we should.)

I think the pandemic really outlined who we really need to keep things going. Brexit aside. Most keyworkers have been underpaid and under appreciated for so long. Now companies are throwing money at people to work for them. If they had treated their worker better there wouldn’t be such a shortage. Hardly any companies look after their staff and invest in them anymore. They expect commitment from employees without giving anything back.
My husband used to be a HGV driver for a large logistical company. Every month they would receive the company news letter saying how well the company was doing, growth year on year worldwide etc. But no pay rises for drivers, moving to cheaper depots with no facilities, changing to cheaper trucks with no a/c etc. Non of the profits filtering down to the people doing the actual physical work. He had a terrible work/life balance. Missed so much of our kids when they were little. He would never go back.