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With the shortage of drivers showing little sign of abating,
Page 38
Page 39
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Steve McQueen parked up at a truck stop and asked drivers why it is so hard to persuade new recruits to join their ranks.
n a recent survey by driver recruitment specialist Manpower, 16% of transport operators said that they expected opportunities to increase over the next three months. Yet this is an industry already crying out for new drivers. The average age of the current heavy goods vehicle driver is approaching 50, and shortages of up to 6o,000 employees are forecast by the middle of the decade.
So, where will the new recruits be found? If the experiences of a number of drivers that CM spoke to are anything to go by, they are likely to be drawn from a wide range of activities. Former occupations among those canvassed for their views at the Junction 29 truck stop (just off the MI), included publican, carpenter and a university graduate.
So what brought them into the industry, and what do they think discourages young people from joining their ranks?
Peter Todd changed careers from the pub trade three years ago and now drives for P&O Ferrymasters, working out of Rosslare in the Irish Republic. "My little brother is a truck driver and I thought I would give it a go. The money's not too bad and when you are out there, you are out on your own. I like doing Continental work, but it's not for everyone. You have to be happy about being away from home all week."
John Helder was in and out of work as a carpenter before switching to truck driving 4t years ago, and he has never been out of work since. He currently drives for Baylis Distribution: "I came into driving because of the freedom you get, and my first driving job was in an old Dodge, carrying a load of basketware to Manchester. I think the long hours and being away from home all the time keeps young people out. I'm away on Monday and I don't get back until Saturday. I do about 70 hours a week on average. Not many young people would like the sound of that?
Disillusioned
Ten years ago, Anthony Holgate was at university training to be a teacher: "I got very disillusioned with the idea; I lived in Hull and there were not a lot of options about. My father was a lorry driver and I had done a lot of travelling with him, so I thought I would give it a go."
However it's not a career he would recommend to school leavers in the UK, although maybe to young people elsewhere in the EU: "You can't sell lorry driving as a career in this country. It's seen as a dead-end job, there's no respect at all. I've been working for a Dutch-based company for four years now and the perception of the job is totally different over there. In Holland and Germany it's regarded as a good profession. Over there, people value what the lorry drivers do and there are a lot of young kids on the road. They train hard, learn all about the paperwork and administration, and they see it as a career opportunity."
Eight out of the 13 drivers we spoke to agreed that family connections significantly influenced their decision to drive trucks for a living. However, all of them felt that this was a declining factor.
"In my father's day, it was a popular thing to be a truck driver and I followed in his footsteps, which is something that doesn't happen so often these days," says Davy Meekin. He drives curtainsider units for William Armstrong, in Cumbria and has been a driver for 29 years.
"We used to have to load by hand. I could rope and sheet before I left school. We took all that in our stride. Things have changed. Health and safety regulations mean that some children can't go out with their dads anymore. But the hunger for the job isn't there, either. What are they corning into?"
Not multi-drop work, that's for sure. "People are reluctant to do multi-drop deliveries these days. I might go out with one drop, or 30. New drivers would rather do one drop for Tesco or Sainsbury's," says Barry Johnson of All Truck in Leicester.
Interested
Perry Plowman, a container haulage driver with KPC Logistics in Southampton, concurs: "There are a lot of blue chip companies like them about and the money seems to be there, but they seem more interested in employing people indirectly, using agency drivers."
The cost of acquiring a licence has always been seen as a major barrier to recruitment. That's because road transport seems to be one of the few industries that is unprepared to pay for the high level of skills it requires on a daily basis.
Driver for TS Transport, Dundee, Andy Phillpott says he paid boo to train for a HGV licence 15 years ago. Tony Hodge, who drives for Purators in Buckinghamshire, paid goo io years ago. Barry Johnson of All Truck paid boo seven years ago to train for a rigid licence while he was working in his company's own distribution centre. The company subsequently paid for him to train to drive artics, so he is one of the lucky ones. So is Jim Shaw; his training was paid for by a government training scheme back in the late 1970s.
Acquiring a C+E licence these days costs nearer £2,000 and the drivers we spoke to all agreed that was a significant barrier for most people.
Shaw lives in the north-east, but drives for S Jones (Transport) Aldridge, which is based in the West Midlands. He is a good example of the kind of flexibility expected from today's
drivers—away from home all week, patiently waiting to get under way. He was killing time, while a reload was being organised. Although the Working Time Directive was not exactly dominating his thoughts at the time, it was a good opportunity to find out whether drivers appreciate the potential influence of the WTD.
"Basic pay for drivers can be pretty low and that's a big problem with the WTD. Pay has improved dramatically over the last ten years, but there are still a lot of low-paid drivers around and they have to be prepared to put the hours in.
"The WTD might reduce time on the road and increase safety—which would be good things—but will it increase the basic wage? I'm not sure it will."
"The WTD will be a bad thing for most drivers because they are paid by the hour—and most of them badly. They'll get less money," says Keith Gawler, a food distribution driver with NH Case.
But the views are not all negative: "I think the WTD will have a positive effect. It will reduce accidents in the long term and I think 90 hours in a fortnight is quite sufficient," says Chris Cooper, of John Lewis. "We need directives like that in place to regulate the cowboys."
The overall message is that while the money's not always good, some employers still have pockets deep enough and although the romance of the job seems to have waned, independence still ranks highly as a reason for becoming a professional heavy goods vehicle driver.
The major barrier still appears to be the cost of acquiring a licence, but the WTD is creeping up on the rails.