When does it all change?
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I brought my three-year-old daughter into the office the other day for her to see where I work and she wasn't impressed. She assumed I was a lorry driver, and was looking forward to going for a drive in a Renault Magnum (her favourite truck). Discovering that I actually spend most of my life behind a desk was something of a disappointment.
She's never happier than when she's playing with her model trucks, and it's the same with her friends and cousins. Young children are fascinated with trucks, and plenty of them want to be lorry drivers when they grow up. So at what point do they decide that they'd far sooner work in an office than behind the wheel of a truck? Is it when they discover that the wages are crap, that the hours are unsociable, and that drivers are treated like second-class citizens? If our industry is ever going to attract the young blood it so desperately needs, we should be embarking on a positive PR exercise. Let's give presentations and offer career advice, and let them see just what an important role road haulage plays in keeping the UK moving. Will Shiers Editor