Speaking up pays off
Page 47
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Having agreed with almost every word that a frustrated idriver/fitter wrote in a letter published in CM on December 26 under the title "Wake up, England," I am delighted hear that he has had •a firm approach from at least one operator who likes the cut of his jib, or at least •the sound of his opinions.
The driver was K. W. Shaw and he put into words what a lot of would-be driving applicants must feel: that if hauliers are short of good drivers it is often their own fault. They seem unprepared to look beyond an hgv licence (which anyone of moderate skill can get for the cost of a fortnight's training, or less) to see what sort of man is offering his services.
The industry is suffering from a peculiar—and damagingchicken-and-egg situation which even the excellent Group Training Associations do not seem to have conquered: namely, that operators won't take men without hgv experience, yet they won't give promising applicants the chance to obtain that experience.
Yet t ese people are, I guess, the firs to scream when those frustrat d drivers manage to get a li ence, scrape up some cred-t nd go into business as owner-ti river hauliers.