Are lorry drivers (or lack of) having an effect on any of your regular supplies?

[Dan]

HGV driver shortage: UK firms embark on the long road to plug the gap

Logistics sector ups its recruitment and training effort but big obstacles lie ahead

www.theguardian.com

Food, beer, toys, medical kit. Why is Britain running out of everything?

Poor pay and conditions for HGV drivers and the loss of many thousands of EU workers are plunging the UKs supply chain into crisis

www.theguardian.com

Minister urges firms to invest in UK-based workers in HGV driver shortage

Business secretary reported as saying foreign labour only offers ‘temporary solution’ as companies face supply chain crisis

www.theguardian.com

I keep reading news, hearing on radio and seeing on telly that the lack of lorry drivers is having more and more of an impact on our daily lives and wont stop any time soon. I was wondering if any of you guys and gals have felt this with suppliers running out of anything you use regularly?

Heard anything through the grapevine?

Started to stock up on basic things you use often to help get around this over Christmas etc?

 

[pc1966]

Usually got overseas workers because they want to work.

Self-selection really, they came here to work leaving their own lazier countrymen behind.

 

[pc1966]

I know several factories that are trying to recruit semi skilled people for above minimum wage jobs.
most of them are saying, they can’t get people and the locals just don’t want to work.

I suspect this is the case elsewhere as well. The effects of advertisement and social media 'influencers' reinforces a sense of entitlement that jobs should be easy and well paid and not require hard work studying to get there, etc. And not just today's youth, I see the same in some of my fellow 50s age-range mates

 

[FatAlan]

Perfect storm of COVID, Brexit & shipping issues. Business is business and in it to make a profit. It will pay as little as it can get away with. Lack of labour will just lead to shortages. This will be followed by increase in wages and higher prices which will cancel out any benefit of wage increases. It will be interesting to see if an increase in wages will alleviate the shortage of workers. I suspect immigration will be relaxed as per post war, as the current Tory pay masters will still want to make their billions with cheaper labour or any labour at all for that matter. Yet to see any benefit of Brexit though!

 

[UNG]

That is the underlying problem, a lack of UK drivers, so the immediate impact of Brexit has been to expose this as we (the UK) had been getting by with their services.

You can't continually blame Brexit which happened over 20 months ago as the prime cause. The upturn after the pandemic shut down is responsible for a lot problem where drivers have moved into other jobs and industries when a lot of shops and suppliers were closed during the lockdowns

It will take a lot of changes to make HGV driving attractive as a career. The increase in pay is one thing, but it is a lot more than that as they have limited services like parking and access to toilets/showers/etc (and less now than 10-20 years ago) hence the "tramping life" you mention. That too can be fixed with more money, and probably it will be, so we just have to get used to higher costs and many years to fix it.

Your comment shows how little you know about the transport industry, there are a lot of things that money can't and won't fix and I suspect the UK driver shortage is one of them

I find it unlikely that "5 days of training required over 5 years to keep the Driver CP" is a real issue, no more than spraks having to update for each new edition of the regs. If an employer can't find the time & money to deal with 0.5% time spent training, they certainly won't fix the other issues HGV drivers face!

There are a lot of self employed drivers out there funding their own training but not making the rates to recover the outlay , then there is also the agency drivers and dig into it a bit deeper and some of them only choose to work occasional shifts alongside their normal job but since the introduction of the driver CPC and the drop in pay rates a lot have been lost

It would be interesting to know how many non active HGV drivers there actually are in the UK and ask them why they no longer drive to earn their living

 

[mattg4321]

It’s weird how we are allegedly desperate for EU workers to fill the job vacancies we currently have, yet we have 900k people on furlough paid for by the taxpayer…

 

[DPG]

It’s weird how we are allegedly desperate for EU workers to fill the job vacancies we currently have, yet we have 900k people on furlough paid for by the taxpayer…

And to be honest we have plenty of people who could do this sort of work, but who are quite happy to sit on their backsides and claim benefits.

 

[FatAlan]

And to be honest we have plenty of people who could do this sort of work, but who are quite happy to sit on their backsides and claim benefits.

I think that’s when things will get interesting. Will those 900k fill the gap when they come off furlough? I suspect not. Can’t see them filling all the HGV places, production line spaces, harvesting spaces, service industry spaces. Trades and building will also be interesting. Previous governments push to get all and sundry qualified in meaningless degrees rather than providing decent apprenticeships has left a big gap in home grown trades skills.

 

[mattg4321]

Most of my friends do jobs that I have no idea if they are actually necessary. It seems difficult to explain and quantify what they actually do and how productive that is. I guess it must be otherwise they would soon be gone, but I find it hard to get my around!

 

[DPG]

Most of my friends do jobs that I have no idea if they are actually necessary. It seems difficult to explain and quantify what they actually do and how productive that is. I guess it must be otherwise they would soon be gone, but I find it hard to get my around!

It's sometimes difficult to grasp things like this when you are looking from the outside I think.

 

[nicebutdim]

And the same WE apparently want 300 different types of Olive Oil always available on supermarket shelves as well as 50000 trim / model variations of any model of car and vans and lorries it appears as well.

Wait till the loony anti meat brigade get their way, they'll be wanting 100000 different types of lettuce and nuts.

This is what I've long appreciated about Lidl - they sell a standard version and a more upmarket version, which is plenty of choice for anyone. Who needs 23 different types of beans?

Recently I noticed that two versions of Bahco utility knife were marketed as 'good' and 'better', which made me smile.

I know several factories that are trying to recruit semi skilled people for above minimum wage jobs.
most of them are saying, they can’t get people and the locals just don’t want to work.

My sister and her husband own a bakery and have been on their knees this years as they can not get staff - this problem runs from unskilled right through to bakers. People have crazy ideas about how much they should earn as sitting at home already pays a very decent 'wage'.

It’s weird how we are allegedly desperate for EU workers to fill the job vacancies we currently have, yet we have 900k people on furlough paid for by the taxpayer…

Hopefully this will shake up a few people, but a significant number of furloughed staff could have worked another job while still retaining their furlough pay.

Until such times as people have a real incentive to work, a lot will prefer to not bother.

 

[pc1966]

You can't continually blame Brexit which happened over 20 months ago as the prime cause.

Sorry to tell you this but Brexit did not "happen" 20 months ago.

The UK officially left the EU on 31 December 2020 (9 months ago) and even then employers did not have to check their status under the EU Settlement Scheme until 30 June 2021.

Brexit still has not happened for the folks of NI in its entirety, and that s***-show is going to run easily until 2023.

The upturn after the pandemic shut down is responsible for a lot problem where drivers have moved into other jobs and industries when a lot of shops and suppliers were closed during the lockdowns

Your comment shows how little you know about the transport industry, there are a lot of things that money can't and won't fix and I suspect the UK driver shortage is one of them

I fully accept I know only a little here and you clearly have more experience than me, and I never said that Brexit was the only cause, but I find it very hard to believe that the loss of over 20,000 EU drivers is not contributing to the problem.

I think that’s when things will get interesting. Will those 900k fill the gap when they come off furlough? I suspect not. Can’t see them filling all the HGV places, production line spaces, harvesting spaces, service industry spaces. Trades and building will also be interesting. Previous governments push to get all and sundry qualified in meaningless degrees rather than providing decent apprenticeships has left a big gap in home grown trades skills.

This is a key point and applies to the above. Many of those unemployed (or soon to be) simply do not have the skills/qualifications to do a lot of the in-demand jobs as they stand.

I see in the news tonight that the government has decided to shorten HGV driver testing process by combining some tests, but even assuming they get enough applicants it will still take 2 years to fill the shortages.

This sad story is not over yet

 

[nicebutdim]

The UK officially left the EU on 31 December 2020 (9 months ago) and even then employers did not have to check their status under the EU Settlement Scheme until 30 June 2021.

The UK oficially left the EU on 31st December 2019, with an agreed transition period running until 31st December 2020.

NI is NI - a place where nothing ever runs smoothly, for better or worse.

 

[pc1966]

The UK oficially left the EU on 31st December 2019, with an agreed transition period running until 31st December 2020.

Strictly speaking it was 31st Jan 2020 for European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 taking effect, but for most it was end-2020 that kicked off meaningful changes.

NI is NI - a place where nothing ever runs smoothly, for better or worse.

Very, very true.

 

[FatAlan]

Strictly speaking it was 31st Jan 2020 for European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 taking effect, but for most it was end-2020 that kicked off meaningful changes.

Very, very true.

Border controls have still not been fully implemented yet. New restrictions to be implemented on 1st Oct are likely to cause more disruption.

 

[mattg4321]

Sorry to tell you this but Brexit did not "happen" 20 months ago.

The UK officially left the EU on 31 December 2020 (9 months ago) and even then employers did not have to check their status under the EU Settlement Scheme until 30 June 2021.

Brexit still has not happened for the folks of NI in its entirety, and that s***-show is going to run easily until 2023.

I fully accept I know only a little here and you clearly have more experience than me, and I never said that Brexit was the only cause, but I find it very hard to believe that the loss of over 20,000 EU drivers is not contributing to the problem.


This is a key point and applies to the above. Many of those unemployed (or soon to be) simply do not have the skills/qualifications to do a lot of the in-demand jobs as they stand.

I see in the news tonight that the government has decided to shorten HGV driver testing process by combining some tests, but even assuming they get enough applicants it will still take 2 years to fill the shortages.

This sad story is not over yet

I’m sure they could manage fruit picking or working in hospitality doing something useful. Both of which would only require a very small amount of training. The fact is it’s easier to sit at home and claim 80% earnings from a job that effectively no longer exists.