Driver Shortage, Well I Think That There Isn’t One!

The add that I was reading on ‘CV-Library‘ stated ‘that due to a national driver shortage, we need you’.

Experience.

I have spent the last thirty-five years driving HGV’s, and since I was made redundant after eighteen years at the same company, I have applied for numerous positions on various websites such as Indeed, CV-Library, Total Jobs, Glass Door etc, and have not had much luck in finding a full time driving position.

I have also signed up with numerous agencies and although I have found some work it has not been regular enough for me to make a living and there has been no sign of an offer for a full-time position.

Sign On With an Agency.

There seems to be lot’s of driving agencies that promise you that they have stacks of work and are too willing to get you to sign up on their books, once you have been through the sign up process you just do not hear from them, and if you chase them they just tell you that they will call you if anything comes in.

Before I was made redundant, the company that I was working for struggled sometimes to find drivers, especially to cover extra shifts brought on by a sudden influx of extra work.

It was this that led me to believe that I wouldn’t have too much trouble finding a replacement driving position after I was made redundant. After all, I have over 30 years of experience, driving class one vehicles.

Driving Has Changed a Lot.

I know the job has changed a lot since I started, and it has become much harder to gain an HGV license, there are now numerous qualifications that one has to achieve in order to become a driver, such as 35 hours on a driver CPC course every 5 years, digital tachograph knowledge, a medical before you start, and every five years after the age of 45.

One also has to go through the ranks of class 2 first, before taking a class one driving test, me? I just went from driving a 7.5 tonne on a car license, to an artic, and kind of bypassed the class 2 part, you can’t do that these days.

Once you have passed all the qualifications there is no guarantee that you will gain rewarding employment.

Driver Shortage.

All the above has led some so-called ‘experts’ to believe that there just isn’t enough new drivers coming to the profession and that there is a driver shortage, well I think that there is not a shortage at all.

If you look at any of the job-seeking websites, there are plenty of driving jobs advertised but these are the ones that are poorly paid that nobody wants or are agencies advertising.

There is nothing wrong with being an agency driver, but you do not have job security, and can be dropped at any time, i:e, you can be booked for the next five days but you can also be cancelled on any one of those days, or all of them with just a few hours notice.