Do you sometimes get really frustrated when things seem to have such an obvious solution?

I think IR35 is 'part' of the reason; that and the loss of EU drivers.

Why can’t freight trains be used ( not sure if that’s what they’re called) . You would still need lorry drivers but they wouldn’t have to be on the road for days on end and would be available to do more collections from railway stations. Might be more of an incentive for people to train as HGV drivers including women.

That is correct Mawbe although not common knowledge. If the drivers were to return they would now have to pay much more tax and NI which isn't as appealing.
If however the rate of pay significantly increases then they might reconsider.

My son got his full HGV licence in a week when he was in the Army so maybe Army personnel could be used to speed up the testing process - if that is indeed the problem rather than a shortage of people wanting the job. I appreciate that not everyone can go off for a week just to get their licence but it might be a possibility for anyone currently out of work?

Just a random thought of mine!

If push comes to shove i am pretty sure the government would bring the army in to help.
Just a thought.

I read yesterday, one store I can’t recall which, bought a load of transit vans. They can now use drivers who don’t require the HGV licence, not very green as more trips are required and obviously you need the money for the vans.

My husband is an HGV driver and considers himself to be well paid by the company he works for. To clarify the ‘retesting every five years’ Germanshepherdsmun it isn’t a retest of driving skills, it’s a simple medical/eyesight check. Mr mobile says that there is a bit of a problem getting people who are qualified to do those, but it’s not impossible.

My husband was an HGV Driver for about 40yrs. Then was told he would have to have a CPC licence which meant 5 days in a classroom which he would have had to pay£500 for.And he would have to do this every 3 years. My husband was just turning 60 at the time and stopped hgv driving. He said after 40yrs why do I need to go into a classroom to be taught how to do my job.

HGV drivers have no status. Some service stations wouldn’t even let them use their loos. It’s like work in slaughterhouses, great shortage there I believe. We allowed east European immigrants from lower paid countries to do these poorly paid jobs with loads of stress and poor conditions, inhuman in some cases, and no status.
Companies pay as little as they can to keep prices low. Millions of animals are slaughtered a week and sold really cheaply. It costs more to buy a plant based sausage than one made from a living suffering sentient animal. Perhaps it will be a good thing that proper prices will have to be charged reflecting the reality behind cheap food.

I guess the pandemic coupled with Brexit has taught us that low paid jobs are often the most valuable to society - and in some cases the highest paid …aren’t that valuable at all! As for the short term answer I’d say a relaxation the visa issue could help somewhat - coupled with better wages and conditions.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Thanks for this! I have just emailed the link to my daughter who I know may be interested in some of them. Would be myself but I am retired now and kept quite busy with my grandchildren!

I don’t understand why these big container lorries can’t be transported by rail it would certainly free up the roads a little

Old-fashioned idea - why not go back to more freight by rail? Much less polluting, fewer drivers needed - only for shorter journeys from goods station to final destination.
I’m sure there are a dozen arguments against this, one of which will be our already overloaded passenger rail system. But a bit of intelligent thought (haha with this government?) should be able to come up with a plan.

Oh Lesley 60 I see you’ve posted the same idea!

I'm not sure if anyone else has mentioned this but apparently there are quite a few young men who have paid for their HGV drivers training but are not allowed to work because the lower age limit is 25. Surely if there is a test at the end of the course this should enable the younger trained people to drive HGV's? It was said that they are getting jobs driving smaller vehicles, doing shelf stacking or whatever because they're too young to be employed as HGV drivers

I saw an advert on Facebook yesterday, looking for HGV test examiners. So a lack of those is part of the problem.
My OH used to be a delivery driver for John Lewis (not the same I accept) but he got out of that because of the unrealistic delivery schedules, and the use of agency staff as co-staff with poor English, leading to serious H&S issues, some of which led to injury sustained by my husband because the co-staff member didn't understand what was being required of them when moving heavy items into customers' homes. I would imagine there could be similar negative aspects to HGV delivery drivers' jobs.

Mamgujane

Old-fashioned idea - why not go back to more freight by rail? Much less polluting, fewer drivers needed - only for shorter journeys from goods station to final destination.
I’m sure there are a dozen arguments against this, one of which will be our already overloaded passenger rail system. But a bit of intelligent thought (haha with this government?) should be able to come up with a plan.

Far better for the environment as well. Not beyond the wit of man but outside this government’s agenda. There are still many old sidings that could be used if upgraded etc.

Govt has said it will not relax the immigration regs for HGV drivers but will encourage the employment of ex services and apprentices.

Sarahmob

My husband is an HGV driver and considers himself to be well paid by the company he works for. To clarify the ‘retesting every five years’ Germanshepherdsmun it isn’t a retest of driving skills, it’s a simple medical/eyesight check. Mr mobile says that there is a bit of a problem getting people who are qualified to do those, but it’s not impossible.

I agree with NannyG123 on this one; its a bit more than an eyesight check every five years. Its not even "just" a test of driving skills.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver_CPC

NannyG123
That was one of the reasons why my friend sold his Haulage company and retired some years ago. Another, self employed, also gave it up.

There was a man on a radio phone-in programme the other day who had trained and passed his HGV test but couldn't get a permanent job, just a couple of days here and there doing agency work. The companies wanted experienced drivers.

NotSpaghetti

As a temporary measure I think HGV drivers should be on the same list of exemptions as ballet dancers.
At least the port checks would be shorter.

Whaaa?!? Tell me this is a joke??? Ballet dancers? Really? ....although thinking about it opera and ballet get heritage lottery funding while brass bands are not considered either part of our heritage-or even music according to the greedy stuck up snobs er ,I mean the powers that be at the lottery bank!

I suspect historically female drivers were put off by : no facilities at truck stops for females; sheer physical barriers with the older rigs (not so much now with modern tractor units and auto transmissions) ; safety! Always safety, we passed have had to factor in the " am I likely to be attacked?" Element into oh so many professions! I've always wanted to learn to pilot an HGV but all these put offs were so very prevalent in 70s and80s I simply out it out of my mind☹️

Can you use those long road trains like we have here or is the traffic too heavy?Longest one here was 113 trailers. Mind you wouldn’t want to be stuck behind it! Usually they belt along though.

Peasblossom

Perhaps better pay and conditions would be more effective that a training grant?

Why not both?
And regarding the insurance issue, I would imagine that many servicemen would be excellent drivers having driven army vehicles, including in some cases tanks.