Training help is the only answer W here are the drivers,
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says Paul Grey from a Crawley employment agency seeking to trace that endangered species, the HGV driver seeking work.
But why should a person pay for his own training to join an industry where the employers often insist on two years' experience post test, where initial training costs have been forced up 60% overnight by EC legislation, where work can normally be obtained only by working for agencies as casuals with no job training and no job security, and then work unsocial hours, often for poor pay?
The self-starter types are not joining road transport any more—the prospects are better in other industries.
There are various TECsupported training schemes, but few employers use them and the agencies do nothing. Their trade association, FRES, even has a driving industry sub-committee. They bang on about standards, use casual labour, and virtually never pay for any basic HGV training.
A recent RHDTC survey showed there are virtually twice as many WV drivers in the last 12 years of their working lives as in the first Yet the first seven months of 1997 have seen a 50 to 60% drop in new LGV entrants.
A few pennies on the hourly rate is no answer. Training help for new people is the only answer. Agencies must accept some responsibility for their employees and transport operators should wake up to the driver shortage and cure the problem. J Coates, Leicester