The current UK haulage industry is suffering from an identity crisis as it struggles to attract new drivers in a busier, more safety-conscious Britain.
Andy Cowell, Transport Manager at Mobile Mini, recognises that the transport network is the backbone of the country and essential to maintaining our way of life. The current shortfall of drivers in the haulage industry, Andy states, is due to tighter legislation, worsening road conditions and increased customer expectations caused by the ‘just in time’ society phenomenon.
These elements have combined to mean the industry has suffered from negative perception and stagnation as new, younger people avoid entering haulage as a career and more experienced drivers leave. Add the cost of training into the mix and the haulage industry faces a real crisis of both identity and practicality: how do we attract new drivers?
Andy’s suggestion is simple: “invest heavily in your staff – we are already taking existing colleagues and training them to be HGV drivers and crane operatives. As an industry, we need to be removing the barrier of cost of training to bring new drivers to the fore.”
Safety as a concern
In terms of attracting new talent in a time where larger vehicles are constantly demonised for lack of safety, training is vital and companies must place more investment in training and equipment.
Mobile Mini, for example, has invested in its fleet to achieve FORS Gold Standard – adding driver aids such as 360 mobile digital recording, proximity recorders to reduce blind spots and HALO cycle minder systems to warn cyclists. Andy Cowell summarises by stating: “Most enhanced safety features are in response to tighter requirements for driving in London, but we know as an industry that that many of these developments will become National Standards. Our new fleet for 2020 will also have enhanced direct vision standard window doors to ensure we are at the forefront of vehicle safety requirements and helping our drivers to protect vulnerable road users.”
By investing in training and safety, companies can attract new drivers and redefine the face of the UK Haulage industry so it can continue to provide essential support to UK businesses.
You still just don’t get it…. real wages as an HGV driver are down between 40% and 60% since the early 1980’s. It’s NOT the training that people are concerned about, it’s what your going to get paid at the end of it!….. stop ducking behind these facts, until you wake up to the reality of the situation, the driver shortage will continue until it’s too late!