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Ignore at your peril

16th December 2010
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Should road transport operators expect a shortage of drivers now or later? The warning signs for a dwindling skilled workforce should not be ignored

Words: Brian Warr;

LAST MONTH, SKILLS for Logistics (SfL) reported that HGV driver vacancies hit a three-year high in October.

It also warned that such a level of vacancies (a 130% increase in October to 25,720 compared to 11,041 a year ago) could signal a large-scale driver shortage.

Set against this is a backdrop of apathetic, ageing drivers — averaging 53 and looking to retire — who appear uninterested in returning to the classroom to meet the Driver CPC requirement. and a lack of youth coming into the industry, operators could have a serious problem on their hands.

"Two-thirds of Road Haulage Association [RHA] members fear a shortage of drivers as the economy picks up," says policy director Jack Semple. "There are particular fears over the quality of drivers."

However, there is a conflict between statistical and anecdotal evidence of the level of concern over driver vacancies Furthermore, it appears that operators with the smallest fleets are at greatest risk. They have been forced to decrease staffing and fleet levels during the recession and now have to balance supply and demand to cater for an economic upturn. The vacancies are there, at least according to recruitment agency Top Gear. It says that HGV 1 driver vacancy numbers in Manchester have soared by 138% in the past 12 months, while vacancies in Liverpool rose 288%, with increases of 68% in Warrington and 86% in Wakefield.

Adding to a rosy picture for employment prospects,Top Gear also says that vacancies are up 90% in Birmingham, while Southampton has seen vacancies up 279%. London vacancies are more tempered. up only 12%.

A desperate industry

"If 100 drivers knocked on our office door today, they would receive inunediate work — that's how desperate the industry is for experienced and qualified drivers," says James Mallick, operations manager at the Manchester recruitment agency.

"With demand significantly outstripping supply, there's concern that something has to change quickly." But professional driver Terry Summers questions the gravity of the driver shortage issue. think the SfL report must be talking about a different country to the UK. I am not witnessing a high demand for skilled drivers The agencies are on their usual vacancy recruitment drive, but nobody takes their advertisements seriously any more."

Ashley Bassett, joint MD of Staffordshire general haulage contractor RG Bassett — which has a staff retention rate of circa 5% and runs a fleet of 40 vehicles — says: "We have no vacancies at the moment, but we have a waiting list of those wishing to join."

Ian McKeown, operations manager at County Antrim haulage firm McBurney Transport, agrees: "Lots of firms have disappeared, hut drivers aren't hanging on our doors."

If vacancies are so high, logic says a pool of competent drivers is needed, as well as an influx of young blood with new ideas

Minimal uptake in training

"There has been minimal uptake in training. Drivers are in no rush to pay for extra training as they have until 2014 to qualify," says Mallick.

But only a third of the periodic training required for the Driver CPC has been undertaken since its introduction (CM31 August).

The situation has been widely forecast to become cataclysmic, with more hauliers and training firms telling CM that the -let's leave it until nearer the

time" attitude is increasingly prevalent.

Freight Transport Association training general manager Nic Allen says: "Unfortunately. general take-up of mandatory CPC has been disappointing across the UK.

But he argues there is commercial benefit for early completion of CPC hours As the clock ticks away to 2014, the choice of reliable and high-quality training providers will become more restricted. Companies with a proactive approach to training will have more control and choice.

So can the government help? "The DSA has done little to say whether there will be a problem in 2014,says Semple. "This is unacceptable. We have said this to two [transport] ministers [Paul Clark and Mike Penning]. It is causing great anxiety. The DSA seems ill-equipped to tackle this issue.The ball

is firmly in the Department for Transport's court."

However, a DSA spokesman replies: "Drivers, employers and the industry have a responsibility to ensure they do not leave training until the last minute."

With the prospect in the short and long-term looking unpredictable when it comes to the provisibn of drivers, is the industry scratching its head and wondering what it can do? From the people CM spoke to as part of this investigation. two approaches seem key: bring training in house and encourage young people to enter the industry.

Recruiting young talent

"Lot of youngsters want to learn and use technology through Driver CPC to further their careers," says McKeown, while Bassett believes the impetus to recruit young talent is being affected throughout the industry because of pressures from insurance firms that he believes are adding extra excesses for those under 25. Another source tells CM that excesses of "up to £.500" are not uncoinmon for the under-25s.

This is a difficult situation for the logistics industry, which is trying to encourage young talent into the sector hut, at least according to the latest Sector Skills Assessment conducted by Lifelong Learning UK, is finding it difficult to attract skilled labour. In the road transport industry, only 17% of the workforce are qualified to an NVQ Level 4 equivalent qualification (a university degree in old money) compared to the national figure of 34%. More pertinently, less than half of the total workforce in the industry (46% or 754,100 individuals) do not have an NVQ Level 2 equivalent qualification (an A level).

The evidence for and against a shortterm driver shortage, and a long-term lack of skilled drivers, in the coming years is inconclusive. But the need for the industry and government to act now seems inescapable. •

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