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Can't pay must pay!
Page 8
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It was surprising to hear in a news bulletin last Tuesday that, according to the Freight Transport Association, the industry could be short of up to 8o,000 HGV drivers—and that last year's fuel protests had put off many potential recruits.
Suitably astonished, we contacted the FTA only to be told it hadn't said that at all—not about the fuel protest, at least. It was the result of a dose of spin being applied to the association's original press briefing. We're reassured to hear it.
The root cause behind the driver shortage is obvious: someone working outside road transport can earn in 48 hours what a truck driver has to work 6o hours for, without the crushing responsibility for road safety, delivery schedules and customer care that sit on the shoulders of the average driver. Neither do they have such cramped working and sleeping conditions, poor rest facilities, indifferent food and outright hostility from fellow road users. And an industrial injury is a damn sight more likely in transport than in McDonalds.
Any operator wondering where all the drivers have gone should consider this. "I can't pay you more" is the same as "I won't pay you more". They're both the legacy of years of letting customers dictate rates which can't sustain a decent wages bill. What do you get if you pay your drivers peanuts? No drivers. But that could all be about to change. As union recognition (not to say power in the workplace) increases, dyed-in-thewool hauliers will soon find a "can't pay, won't pay" response doesn't cut it anymore at the negotiating table.
You have been warned. The way to a good driver's heart is likely to be through his wallet.