Just been on BBC news that they reckon there is still a driver shortage. I’m wondering if the majority of new passes who were conned into the promises of massive wages have suddenly caught up with reality. The clip was about the lack of suitable facilities but me thinks there’s plenty more reasons as to why many choose not to use their licences.
some cant get starts. some are completely inept some started and decided it wasn’t for them.
However, there is no driver shortage just a shortage of drivers wanting to be treated like morons for minimum wage.
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The whole adult population could hold a truck licence, if enough don’t want to drive trucks and firms struggle to recruit then doesn’t that equate to a driver shortage?
There is a shortage of drivers that can get by on “normal” hours (40-48 per week), and are prepared to work nights, weekends rather than 9-5 Monday-Friday.
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If Bob the builder needs 1000 bricks to complete a job but Bob can only source 600 bricks due to lack of bricks available then…there is a shortage of bricks / a brick shortage.
I missed this thread, and started another.
We’ve both watched the same news show then.
Yep a double whammy to deal with 
That’s not meant to be blushing lol
if bob cant get the bricks but paddy can maybe its because bob wants to pay half the price for the bricks that paddy does and expects the bricks ontop of the scaffold. Maybe bob should look at what he’s doing to see the reason rather than crying about a shortage.
There is a company near me that is advertising a job at 14 p/h nights apparently they have had over 300 applications all with the required experience and clean records.
But whatever the reasons a driver shortage is a driver shortage. You say there is no driver shortage just a shortage of drivers willing to work for poor wages, then you highlight 300 people (allegedly) applying for £14 p/h for nights. I smell a rat.
because that is the first time in 4 years they have advertised for a driver. If you wouldn’t get out of bed for 14 quid an hour and 300 people will then it proves there are plenty of drivers
get this straight there is no shortage and if it was the same news item that robroy saw it was european wide
I personally think that looking around the only type of driver shortage is a shortage of good ‘proper drivers’.
No shortage of inepts or those ‘Car driver with a Class 1’ type though I regularly observe.
Not specifically young drivers, and not only new drivers either, and I fully realise we all have to learn, so a bit of latitude should be given to newly qualified lads to develop.
I mainly refer to the clown contingent anong us, maybe they churned out a lot of dross at the training schools after the rush to become a driver at the time I mentioned previously, which to go off on another tangent, suggests the effects of dumbing down of the driver training schemes need adressing.
Get this straight, you have totally contradicted yourself by claiming drivers won’t work for peanuts…
pay 14 quid an hour or 11 quid an hour which is peanuts.
pay 14 quid an hour or 16 quid an hour with cameras micromanaging being spoken to like dirt expected to tip an artic and break down the pallets pay for damage etc etc
you ask any proper driver i bet they go for the 14 quid an hour
Ah right, well the news item that I actually saw, so therefore am in a position to make an informed judgement made mention of a driver shortage in BOTH the UK & mainland Europe.
300 hundred applicants for one job, what was the source of that information?
There is very clearly a driver shortage, I retired 18 years ago and gave up my HGV licence 16 years ago but I still get emails often from agencies offering me work even though I have told them many times that I have retired. I am 80 next so don’t think I will be driving a truck anytime soon.
My word you are so full of ■■■■. 
I know I live and work close to a test centre, but I see so many L plate trucks from lots of different firms, there’s almost as many as there are L plate cars!
Well md1987, perhaps you could elaborate, rather than a childish post with no substance.
In the new drivers’ forum which I check regularly, you do quite often get posts along the lines of ‘Hooray, I’ve passed, where do I look now for a job? By the way, I’m not willing to leave X job unless I can meet my salary expectations of X amount.’
This is about the size of it, many qualified people, but the entry into the industry is the part that is the problem. There usually isn’t a route in apart from hitting and hoping, which doesn’t suit people that want to know in advance what they will be earning, what the terms and conditions are etc, all when they have no experience yet.