Driver shortage Agreat deal has been written recently about the
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shortage of HGV drivers. I find it surprising that some industry commentators are apparently confused and unsure why our industry is not attracting people to it.
Our industry will never attract the "right" people to it until we all choose to ensure we can offer more than the minimum wage earned for spending more than 60 hours each week in a daily traffic jam with time off confined to a metal box in an unfriendly, inhospitable environment.
Until we decide to reduce capacity, control entry to the industry, stop cheating—and insisting others do it for us—and demand and support high levels of enforcement, we can never expect to solve this problem. Companies which invest in training are also most likely to be the ones which invest in modern, environmentallyfriendly vehicles, proper maintenance, good operating centres, health and safety, and employee benefits such as insurance, pensions, and so on.
Sadly, best practice in this industry tends simply to make these companies more and more uncompetitive.
It has been suggested that a training levy should be reintroduced but I would prefer to pay an enforcement levy. I believe the industry should decide to sort itself out before giving itself up to the low-cost European operators who clearly intend to take full advantage of the awful mess we have got ourselves into. They could not be better placed to do so.
In support of this letter I asked one of our drivers, Cliff Mewse, who has been with us 25 years, to add a few words: "60-plus hours a week, poverty wages and overnight stops in a layby or cattle market are still the prospects for many drivers in today's modern transport industry. After long, tiring journeys we are often treated with contempt when making deliveries.
"Sometimes drivers become Mr Invisible, ignored by goods-in staff with forklift drivers almost running over your toes without even acknowledging your existence. We are told that there is a shortage of good drivers, but until people's attitudes towards us change and we are treated as professionals, with conditions and wages to match, the shortage will remain.
"After 25 years, why do I stay in the transport industry? The answer is satisfaction in doing the job well But unfortunately, job satisfaction does not pay the mortgage." Paul Frampton, Framptons International, Thame, Somerset.