shortage of HGV drivers UK

The ministers in the Vote Leave government are hardly able to speak English.

They speak in slogans.

What they used to call "project fear" because it has actually now proven to be true has been rebranded "captain hindsight".

EU workers, such as HGV drivers, butchers and veterinary surgeons are called "unskilled workers"

Pleas for proper funding of the NHA (or any public service) are branded "throwing money at..."

As for what "Global Britain" means - the evidence seems to be just about bottom of the queue everywhere as no forieng government can trust us anymore.

Talk about own goal here:

youtu.be/JjrMAZFwusI

TWENTY Visas have been applied for, and they all take 3 weeks to process...

So Council drivers are switching to HGV driving for hauliers, attracted by higher wages.

The result - rubbish, literally!

The arrogance, the dishonesty, the hypocrisy and the sheer gall is exposed here. How often were we told right here on GN, by some members, that warnings were just project fear, and now they claim, as Johnson and the Government,, that it was always the plan, always known, always clear.

This is it

fb.watch/8wmk-wjO3d/

It seems the EU is cleverly staying well ahead of the game, and offering 5 year Visas to out of EU HGV drivers. Good for them.

Lucca

..

Love it Luca!

Here's another twist to the driver shortage problem.

Apparently containers are being held up in UK ports because there aren't enough HGV drivers to take them out. Which, of course, means delays to supplying whatever is in the containers and increased cost to business for container storage charges, which are being raised in an attempt to get the containers moved out faster.

It's explained here:

trans.info/en/shipping-lines-raise-fees-as-driver-shortage-clogs-up-british-ports-257101

Kali2

Fear no longer- we are saved...

27 (twenty seven) foreign HGV drivers have applied for special visa.

yes ... twenty seven

One for each of the 27 member states

They're taking the Michael, aren't they?

LauraNorder

My son, who is a local authority head of services told me that all the bin wagon drivers in his area, along with all other holders of HGV licences, including those who have retired or changed career, have received a letter from the Dept of Transport telling them that they are much needed.
He is now concerned that the powerful unions will hold local councils to ransom for higher pay to keep hold of their drivers resulting, of course, in a further increase in council tax to cover these costs…
and so the spiral continues.
It will be a slow climb back but we do need to incentivise young people to take on these vital jobs and a training grant for a hgv licence would be a start.

My son received one of these letters as he gained an HGV licence when in the Army. But he lives in the US now, has done for over six years, so they need to check the data base! The letter came to my address as this was his UK base when in the army and I still get the odd letter.

Fear no longer- we are saved...

27 (twenty seven) foreign HGV drivers have applied for special visa.

yes ... twenty seven

Missed this yesterday:

Well, My DD got her invitation to join Johnson's Army of HGV drivers today.

I suspect she'll pass on that...

..

LauraNorder

Like everywhere else, demand for labour is high so wages will have to rise, and we will all pay the price.

This was exactly my point but poor, silly, confused little me didn’t articulate it quite as well as clever old you.

The false modesty doesn't really become you. I agree with you BTW.

The problem is that I don't think it's just a question of supply and demand. Just because a job pays well doesn't mean that there are the right people in the right place to do them. It's going to take years to train/retrain people and encourage them to move to places where property prices might be much higher. That's if people can be persuaded that some of these jobs are attractive anyway.

Like everywhere else, demand for labour is high so wages will have to rise, and we will all pay the price.

This was exactly my point but poor, silly, confused little me didn’t articulate it quite as well as clever old you.

It's all so confusing! People were promised that wages for jobs often done by EU nationals would increase.

There aren't any accurate figures on how many people have returned to their home countries because we didn't have accurate figures on how many were in the UK in the first place. However, estimates of tax returns, school places, GP patients suggest that over a million have gone. I don't know how true that it is, but I'm assuming it's somewhere around that.

So the people have gone and there are vacancies. People haven't forgotten what they were promised (or, at least, thought they were being promised), so it's no wonder that they've become aware of their worth and are agitating for more money. Additionally, many of them were doing the kind of jobs which had to carry on throughout lockdown and have been disproportionately affected.

None of this is much of a surprise - or shouldn't be.

And do the unions still collectively negotiate wages with local councils - I though those days were long gone?

In your confusion, you're conflating two different scenarios.

Past demands by 'powerful' unions for higher pay for miners and car workers, can't be compared to bin lorry drivers changing jobs for higher pay.

Bin lorry drivers are currently in demand, so why should they not seek a better paid job?

Like everywhere else, demand for labour is high so wages will have to rise, and we will all pay the price.

I assume you approve of the free market economy?

Shocking lack of checking. Apologies

Bin wagon sorry

Bib wagon drivers taking higher paid jobs elsewhere will result in rubbish left stinking on the pavement. To stop this happening wages will go up, council will rise to pay for it pushing more in to poverty. The knock on effect of driver shortages was my point.
I then went on to say we should be incentivising young people with training grants.
Better conditions and away from home payments might help but rocketing pay increases is never the whole answer as seen by miners and car factory workers on the past.

Supply and demand - it's a free market economy!

Not for the peasantry, it isn't, Riverwalk. they have to be grateful they have any job at all and keep silent.

He is now concerned that the powerful unions will hold local councils to ransom for higher pay to keep hold of their drivers resulting, of course, in a further increase in council tax to cover these costs…

That's a rather strange take on the subject of HGV drivers - why should drivers or anyone else for that matter, not strive for higher pay, or a different job?

Supply and demand - it's a free market economy!

My son, who is a local authority head of services told me that all the bin wagon drivers in his area, along with all other holders of HGV licences, including those who have retired or changed career, have received a letter from the Dept of Transport telling them that they are much needed.
He is now concerned that the powerful unions will hold local councils to ransom for higher pay to keep hold of their drivers resulting, of course, in a further increase in council tax to cover these costs…
and so the spiral continues.
It will be a slow climb back but we do need to incentivise young people to take on these vital jobs and a training grant for a hgv licence would be a start.