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Fry drivers before you buy
Page 18
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a bid to help recruits find work, a recruitment agency is offering new irivers at a trial rate with no strings attached. Chris Tindall reports.
DRIVER TRAINING and cruitment firm has launched a 'try ;fore you buy' scheme, enabling )erators to try out newly qualified ivers with no obligation, Clearstone CEO Paul Jacobs tys operators' concern over Lsurance costs, as well as !wly qualified drivers' lack of tperience, means thousands r recruits to the industry are ruggling to find work, He Aimates that there are around ),000 driver vacancies in the UK. tying this skills gap can only he plugged with a major change in attitude towards recruitment.
Now Clearstone has launched the -Stepping Stone' service, which offers employers the chance to pay a flat day rate of £25 for new drivers, for up to 20 days.
Operators who then decide to recruit a driver on a permanent basis are offered a reduced introduction fee, from which the initial trial costs are deducted.
Jacobs says: "It is becoming more difficult to attract and retain well qualified drivers in the industry. 'The re 's an issue in the UK and it's not going to go away.'This is an opportunity for [drivers] to prove themselves.
-There's no obligation; companies can let that person go," he adds. "It's low risk from an employer's perspective. The encouraging thing is customers have said they find newly qualified drivers a more attractive proposition — they can train them as they wish to, there are no bad habits, and they are not jaundiced by previous experience."
• For more on how operators are turning to foreign drivers to fill the skills gap see Analysis on page 22.