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The dock's ticking...
Page 16
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With a quarter of all UK truck drivers within 10 years of retirement, is a demographic timebomb about to blow the industry to pieces?
Words: David Harris
THE AVERAGE British truck driver is older than he (or she) used to be. According to the latest analysis by Skills for Logistics (SIL) more than a quarter (26%) are over 55. and 53% are over 45 with only 9% under 25. Not to put too line a point on it, British truck drivers are a middle-aged bunch.
This raises a number of questions, the most obvious being why arc youngsters less keen on joining the profession than they once were? Bob Monks, general secretary of the United Road Transport Union. says it's all down to pay and conditions: "When I started in 1979 my friends use to rib me that conditions were so good that it was a licence to print money. That's how it was seen."
Erosion of power
What changed. at least from Monks' perspective, is that union power was eroded and collective bargaining came under attack, with the result that pay and conditions have gradually declined in relative terms "One of the problems has been that the one variable cost in the cab is the driver's wage," he points out. A Veteran drivers Add to this the modern preoccupa are an asset, but they tion with work-life balance (notably a won't Last for ever dislike of antisocial hours and long peri ods away from home) and the difficulty of recruiting young drivers is hardly surprising, says Monks.
The problem of the ageing workforce is going to take some time to tackle. Public bodies like Sf1. and individual employers have done their best; SfL's measures have included a programme of school visits to highlight opportunities in the haulage business and running the Young Drivers Scheme for the Department for Transport. This is designed to encourage young drivers to obtain a Category C licence by the time they are 18 and a Category C+E by the time they are 21.
Some companies have run recruitment campaigns for younger drivers; in the case of Wincanton this involved training warehouse staff to become drivers as well as persuading new staff to join the firm.
Measures like these have all helped, but perhaps the most interesting development in recent months has not been the age profile of the British truck driver, but signs that the driver shortage is easing. Both SfL and the Road Haulage Association (RHA) reckon the shortage has been easing for more than a year. leading to a lessening of concern about the number of drivers approaching retirement.
Shortage of jobs Ruth Pott, the RHA's director of employment affairs, says: -In the past 18-24 months there have been far fewer people talking about driver shortages, and now I just don't hear people talking about it at all. There are more drivers trying to get jobs than there are getting jobs."
This, presumably, is a side effect of the economic downturn. What felt like a driver shortage when business was buoyant can seem more like a prudent payroll when things get tougher. However, this won't change things in the longer term. Economic recovery will come and more drivers will be needed when it does. What's more, when a quarter of your workforce are less than 10 years from retirement, there are clearly tough times ahead for recruiters.
The difficulty for the British haulage business may be that the expected rise in demand for drivers as the economy recovers might coincide with an increased number of drivers reaching retirement age.
For the time being, one of the few benefits of the deepening economic downturn is that most British hauliers seem to have enough drivers to suit their needs. The key question is how long that will remain the case? •