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luck) mrvives bridge collapse Firm seeks more Lithuanians
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• A Kent-based international operator is planning to recruit more drivers from Eastern Europe because UK drivers are no longer willing to work away from home for long periods.
James Colson, transport manager at Croome Goldstar Logistics on the isle of Sheppey, says about a quarter of its 20 drivers now come from Eastern Europe.
"The way forward for us will be to increasingly recruit foreign people," says Colson.
"It is difficult now to get good quality drivers willing to be away for three weeks at a time. Drivers from Eastern Europe are more wiling to undertake that sort of work," he adds,
Croome, which carries gen
eral cargo and hanging garments, already employs more than 30 Eastern European drivers in a Lithuanian subsidiary which was set up five years ago.
But Colson says that Eastern European drivers will not be used for UK domestic work because of complications with employment law: "Training wise, there's not really much in it."
Although driver recruitment in the UK is the main problem, he confirms that labour costs are also an important consideration: "We have to remember who we are competing against. We are not competing against English transport compares but eastern European transport companies with cheaper labour, running costs and road tax."