Eastern Europeans are going to come back as Brits can't cope

[czechmate]

If i’m an unemployed chartered accountant living in Hampshire even if you took my dole away it’s unlikely i’d be heading to Sutterton to pick broccoli nor would Mr Stobart be keen to hand me the keys to one of his Artics. Whilst it’s not untrue that many people play the system the current labour shortage isn’t due to them. If there are a 100,000 HGV drivers who just don’t want to drive anymore what are they doing at present. It doesn’t look like they’re wielding cabbage knives in the fens for sure.

They get paid so much, they work half time?

 

[czechmate]

@Danllan, did you get an hgv in the army? Maybe you could turn a shift or two?

 

[Lowland1]

They get paid so much, they work half time?

It’s a fair point if it’s all going to be grabbed back in tax and NI ( student loans too) contributions you best only do a couple of hours a day so they’re going to need four people to do a days work.

 

[Lowland1]

Watch OPEC use this to bump up fuel prices immediately, and hence more revenue for government, or am I being cynical

Unlikely Boris and his team at this moment are doing a deal to swap the 100,000 unslaughtered pigs for oil with the Saudi and Kuwaiti governments # Global Britain.

 

[czechmate]

It’s a fair point if it’s all going to be grabbed back in tax and NI ( student loans too) contributions you best only do a couple of hours a day so they’re going to nerd four people to do a days work.

My fat animals go for about 2k. If they were making 8k, I guess I wouldn’t have many

 

[Still Farming]

If i’m an unemployed chartered accountant living in Hampshire even if you took my dole away it’s unlikely i’d be heading to Sutterton to pick broccoli nor would Mr Stobart be keen to hand me the keys to one of his Artics. Whilst it’s not untrue that many people play the system the current labour shortage isn’t due to them. If there are a 100,000 HGV drivers who just don’t want to drive anymore what are they doing at present. It doesn’t look like they’re wielding cabbage knives in the fens for sure.

O ok then , beneath them to work-whatever? , no income what so ever?
Soon come down a few steps then??

 

[Still Farming]

It’s a fair point if it’s all going to be grabbed back in tax and NI ( student loans too) contributions you best only do a couple of hours a day so they’re going to need four people to do a days work.

Too many with wrong attitudes and better off on dole or lot that know all the answers brigade that F the Country up too?

 

[betweenthelines]

I doubt if many people with HGV licences are out of work. A fair few will be involved in supervisory or management roles within the transport industry. I suspect there's also a lot who got their licence in the military, which in my experience, doesn't usually make then suitable to commercial driving.

Inferring everyone with an appropriate licence should be encouraged to get back behind the wheel is rather like saying anyone who ever had a Saturday job on a farm should be required to work as a herdsman.

 

[JimAndy]

If there are a 100,000 HGV drivers who just don’t want to drive anymore what are they doing at present. It doesn’t look like they’re wielding cabbage knives in the fens for sure.

i don't know about what the HGV drivers, but i have a friend who a Chef (another sector that has a lack of workers) and he not going back to it because he sick of the pay and conditions. he didn't know how bad he was off until the lockdown and he got himself a new job working at tesco's, he working shorter hours, and better times of the day so get to have a better family life and while he is down in his wages, his out going are down as well (mainly child care as he home more) so over all he not much worst off money wise and he has a much better life style. i think there could be a lot of people like him, who have took a drop in wages for a much better lifestyle

 

[Lowland1]

i don't know about what the HGV drivers, but i have a friend who a Chef (another sector that has a lack of workers) and he not going back to it because he sick of the pay and conditions. he didn't know how bad he was off until the lockdown and he got himself a new job working at tesco's, he working shorter hours, and better times of the day so get to have a better family life and while he is down in his wages, his out going are down as well (mainly child care as he home more) so over all he not much worst off money wise and he has a much better life style. i think there could be a lot of people like him, who have took a drop in wages for a much better lifestyle

Too many with wrong attitudes and better off on dole or lot that know all the answers brigade that F the Country up too?

I really don’t think many people enjoy going to work. It’s something you have to do a bit like going to school. Covid gave people a way out of the daily grind and for many they’ve decided not to go back to what they were doing before. It would be hard to lockdown people who enjoyed what they were doing.

 

[Flatland farmer]

I know kit has been talked about before but why not get the Forces involved, there must be thousands with hgv licences, we are paying them ,it would be a chance to get some Covid money back from the profiteering oil companies who charge what they like. And why no mention in the press about bringing in some more people to do farm work ,Gov Ministers have no idea what is happening out here.

 

[Suffolk Serf]

I've been looking at the job adverts for butchers and other staff at some local abattoirs that are short staffed.
The pay looks appalling (£10.50/hr, time and a quarter overtime after basic 45 hours) and they are demanding ready skilled staff!
No wonder they are short. It's as if they don't want staff so that they can run down the remaining independent pig producers further.

 

[Still Farming]

I really don’t think many people enjoy going to work. It’s something you have to do a bit like going to school. Covid gave people a way out of the daily grind and for many they’ve decided not to go back to what they were doing before. It would be hard to lockdown people who enjoyed what they were doing.

They definitely don't like or want to go to work if better off not doing so? Ha Ha?

 

[Courier]

I know kit has been talked about before but why not get the Forces involved, there must be thousands with hgv licences, we are paying them ,it would be a chance to get some Covid money back from the profiteering oil companies who charge what they like. And why no mention in the press about bringing in some more people to do farm work ,Gov Ministers have no idea what is happening out here.

Have you ever seen an army HGV convoy going around a roundabout.

You need to give the followers need a very wide berth …..And they all have HGV licences.

 

[Ashtree]

So Boris apparently about to issue temporary visas for EU drivers to come back. Why would they come back? It’s been made pretty damn clear that they aren’t welcome anymore, except in extreme circumstances. As soon as the extreme circumstances pass, they get turfed out again. With driver shortages in many other EU countries, it makes more sense for those up for a move, to do so within the EU.

 

[grainboy]

All this talk of HGV drivers wanted, for fuel deliveries,
But I think the problem would be the ADR aspect,

 

[wanton dwarf]

Apologies if posted elsewhere but this says it all...

What a complete idiot.

So his business plan was to rely on foreign labour in different countries to come and work 6 weeks a year.

Covid 19 totally obliterated his plans. Climate Change is going to do exactly the same.

Of course I know and others know you don't need import rules to work 6 weeks in another country. I've done it in other countries. This guy is lying.

 

[richard hammond]

This is copied from a FB page. Read it and weep.

So, you are running out of food on the shelves, fuel in the garages, you can’t buy things you need, because the shops can’t get their supplies.
Why is that?
A shortage of goods? No
A shortage of money? No
A shortage of drivers to deliver the goods? Well, sort of.
There isn’t actually a shortage of drivers, what we have, is a shortage of people who can drive, that are willing to drive any more. You might wonder why that is. I can’t answer for all drivers, but I can give you the reason I no longer drive. Driving was something I always yearned to do as a young boy, and as soon as I could, I managed to get my driving licence, I even joined the army to get my HGV licence faster, I held my licence at the age of 17. It was all I ever wanted to do, drive trucks, I had that vision of being a knight of the roads, bringing the goods to everyone, providing a service everyone needed. What I didn’t take into account was the absolute abuse my profession would get over the years.
I have seen a massive decline in the respect this trade has, first, it was the erosion of truck parking and transport café’s, then it was the massive increase in restricting where I could stop, timed weight limits in just about every city and town, but not all the time, you can get there to do your delivery, but you can’t stay there, nobody wants an empty truck, nobody wants you there once they have what they did want.
Compare France to the UK. I can park in nearly every town or village, they have marked truck parking bays, and somewhere nearby, will be a small routier, where I can get a meal and a shower, the locals respect me, and have no problems with me or my truck being there for the night.
Go out onto the motorway services, and I can park for no cost, go into the service area, and get a shower for a minimal cost, and have freshly cooked food, I even get to jump the queues, because others know that my time is limited, and respect I am there because it is my job. Add to that, I even get a 20% discount of all I purchase. Compare that to the UK £25-£40 just to park overnight, dirty showers, and expensive, dried (under heat lamps) food that is overpriced, and I have no choice but to park there, because you don’t want me in your towns and cities.
Ask yourself how you would feel, if doing your job actually cost you money at the end of the day, just so you could rest.
But that isn’t the half of it. Not only have we been rejected from our towns and cities, but we have also suffered massive pay cuts, because of the influx of foreign drivers willing to work for a wage that is high where they come from, companies eagerly recruited from the eastern bloc, who can blame them, why pay good money when you can get cheap labour, and a never ending supply of it as well. Never mind that their own countries would suffer from a shortage themselves, that was never our problem, they could always get people from further afield if they needed drivers.
We were once seen as knights of the road, now we are seen as the lepers of society. Why would anyone want to go back to that?
If you are worried about not getting supplies on your supermarket shelves, ask your local council just how well they cater for trucks in your district.
I know Canterbury has the grand total of zero truck parking facilities, but does have a lot of restrictions, making it difficult for trucks to stop anywhere.
Do you want me to go back to driving trucks? Give me a good reason to do so. Give anyone a good reason to take it up as a profession.
Perhaps once you work out why you can’t, you will understand why your shelves are not as full as they could be.
I tried it for over 30 years, but will never go back, you just couldn't pay me enough.
Thank you to all those people who have shared this post. I never expected such a massive response, but am glad that this message is getting out there. I really hope that some people who are in a position to change just how bad it is for some drivers, can influence the powers that be to make changes for the better. Perhaps some city and town councillors have seen this, and are willing to bring up these issues at their council meetings. It surely cannot be too much to ask of a town/city to provide facilities for those who are doing so much to make sure their economies run and their shops and businesses are stocked with supplies. I never wanted any luxuries, just somewhere safe to park, and some basic ablutions that are maintained to a reasonable standard. I spent my nights away from my home and family for you, how much is it to ask that you at least give me access to some basic services.
There are tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of licence holders just like me, who will no longer tolerate the conditions. So the ball is firmly in the court of the councils to solve this problem.
WOW. 100,000 shares in a week.
I have been humbled by the number of people who have never been involved in transport expressing concern about just how badly truck drivers are treated. I don't think the general public have really ever given it a thought, but I have been pleased to see so many express their displeasure about how we have to live while just providing a service for all of them.
I have heard from a number of news outlets since posting this, but not a single councillor or politician has contacted me.
Not that I think anything will change. Trucks always have been an inconvenience for local governments, and the cost of catering for them is left to someone else, anyone else, yet there is no someone else out there.
I avoided another aspect of the job, that makes it bad even for those who try to get home every night.
We have many transport hubs where goods are collected and then distributed onwards to supermarkets and large retailers. Anyone who has delivered to any of these regional distribution centres will tell you the same story. You arrive there at a fixed time slot (don't be late or you will face serious delays), and you will be told where to park and then where to take your paper work, after that, you will be instructed to back onto a bay at some point, to be unloaded. it might take just 20 minutes to unload a truck, but you can bet that the time spent in this RDC will be much longer, waiting for a bay to tip, waiting for them to actually unload you, and then what is usually the longest wait. Waiting for your paper work, so you can carry on to the next job. It is no wonder there is a shortage of trucks on the roads, 1/2 of them are stuck inside these soulless places waiting for a piece of paper.!

Lets just get negative about all things, Drivers are important, NHS staff are important, Farmers are important and so are so many aspects of life like the banks, etc, Who to blame?? all of the negative people, of which they will come back to this post very quickly!! GET ON !!

 

[bobk]

They won't come ,

 

[7610 super q]

What a complete idiot.

So his business plan was to rely on foreign labour in different countries to come and work 6 weeks a year.

Covid 19 totally obliterated his plans. Climate Change is going to do exactly the same.

Of course I know and others know you don't need import rules to work 6 weeks in another country. I've done it in other countries. This guy is lying.

He appears every Crimbo to tell us they'll be a turkey shortage for some reason. Bird flu. Corvid. No workers. Even Slade and Cliff Richard must be sick of the sight of him.