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itAll • • II Rikki Chequer, TruckNet UK cornmunity manager, learns driving appeals to newbies
Page 9
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Despite the increasingly dark economic clouds looming, there seems to be no significant drop-off in the number of people interested in obtaining vocational licences and in the numbers using the New and Wannabe' forum to gain insight into the industry and the training.
In fact, the number of people currently outside the industry taking an interest seems to be on the increase. Could this be a result of nervousness in other professions, and the feeling that essential goods will always need to be moved?
Contrary to the optimism found in the New and VVannabe' forum, the Professional Drivers forum is filling up with news and comments about short-time working, trucks being parked up/sent back off lease and a saddening number of drivers who are facing redundancy.
So the lesson here seems to be that, in practice, driving is not a safe bolt hole in difficult times.
A lot of experienced drivers are out there looking for work, and new entrants are going to find it increasingly difficult to get a start.
The owner-drivers are also contemplating the current state of the economy. An ongoing discussion concerns the weekly rates of fuel cards, and one owner-driver is less than pleased that just last week, he was offered 95.74p/lit from one card and 96.24p/lit from another, while other owner-drivers are reporting back on prices as low as 87p/lit from the same companies.
He says: "Looks like I'm being royally ripped off. Not that it matters. I don't think I'll be using any this week. In fact, I can see the half tank I've got left lasting me until Christmas at this rate!"
It's a common theme running through that forum at the moment, with owners in all sectors reporting a massive drop-off in the decent work available.
Its normally at this point in my column that I point out something more cheerful, and I'm usually helped by posts from the Old Time forum.
This week, however, even things in that forum seem to have taken a nosedive for the worse.
There is a plea for information on the Seddon Atkinson 401 and 411 (A truck model I hate with a vengeance, having driven one for a number of years) has turned up some positive comments about the thing... are they all raving mad?!