Lorry driver shortage

[Bruce Almighty]

I blame Blair & Brown for their "project" of importing labour 20 odd years ago & dishing out benefits/tax credits to the natives that were too lazy to work.

We still hear now about the damage done to mining communities when pits were closed in the 80s.

How about we re-open the mines - okay lads no more benefits, let's get back to work & get some coal up.
You can just see them queueing up to do it can't you ?

A bit like going to a farm & saying no more big bales, it's a pitch fork & conventional bales - nobody would do it.

 

[borderterribles]

I drove for an agency 16 years ago. Making deliveries of fruit and veg to RDC’s
Saturdays was £14 Sundays £15 hour
A new agency came in and offered European drivers at half the rate They lived in housing supplied by the agency
So today’s. rates of £20 aren’t that great
I’ve give short shrift to anyone who says immigration has not affected rates of pay , it dam well did for me
Productivity in the Uk has been falling for the last 20 years If cheap labour wasn’t available companies would have had to mechanise if possible driving productivity up

Almost the same story with me,too. Except the Eastern Europeans were renting their accommodation at £3/night from the boss, but they didn't have to pay if they did nights out! I said then that it would end badly and it seems I have been proved correct.

 

[unlacedgecko]

Good on ya
Do you think Clive would be keen?

No. He's specifically said several times when he ran a haulage firm he didn't get a licence out of principle.

 

[kiwi pom]

No. He's specifically said several times when he ran a haulage firm he didn't get a licence out of principle.

Didn't want to drive or didn't think you should need a licence?

 

[unlacedgecko]

Didn't want to drive or didn't think you should need a licence?

To avoid getting pulled out the office was his reasoning I believe. I'm sure he'll be skiing in a minute to explain.

 

[Breakthru]

I drove for an agency 16 years ago. Making deliveries of fruit and veg to RDC’s
Saturdays was £14 Sundays £15 hour
A new agency came in and offered European drivers at half the rate They lived in housing supplied by the agency
So today’s. rates of £20 aren’t that great
I’ve give short shrift to anyone who says immigration has not affected rates of pay , it dam well did for me
Productivity in the Uk has been falling for the last 20 years If cheap labour wasn’t available companies would have had to mechanise if possible driving productivity up

It was the whole EU agenda. Keep introducing cheap labour from Greece etc to start with then East European countries. Came unstuck with Turkey due to the religious problem being too difficult to swallow.
Trickle down economics only worked for rich greedy b's now the boot is on the other foot. The plebs labour is scarce and will need to be payed for. White van doesn't do macro economics only cares about whats in front of him. We will end up with more tariffs which again will blow a hole in global economics. That will cure offshoring our production.

 

[had e nuff]

After 34 years of farming I've made the decision to leave the industry. Had a few sleepless nights worrying about it.

 

[Breakthru]

After 34 years of farming I've made the decision to leave the industry. Had a few sleepless nights worrying about it.

There is life on the other side. Farming is like a drug you get on the treadmill mostly enjoying it, even the bad times, But there comes a time for reset. You need to get other interests or a part time job as a total shutdown is not good for your health. Takes a bit of getting used to but then becomes very enjoyable in my case going on long holidays. I intend probably 2023 due to covid to go to Oz and farm sit or do charity work for 4 or 5 months mixed with a bit of holiday time.

 

[Turnip]

It was the whole EU agenda. Keep introducing cheap labour from Greece etc to start with then East European countries. Came unstuck with Turkey due to the religious problem being too difficult to swallow.
Trickle down economics only worked for rich greedy b's now the boot is on the other foot. The plebs labour is scarce and will need to be payed for. White van doesn't do macro economics only cares about whats in front of him. We will end up with more tariffs which again will blow a hole in global economics. That will cure offshoring our production.

Wasn't the UK importing labour from the Caribean and other (ex)colonies before joining the EU? MV Empire Windrush, docked in Tilbury on 22 June 1948, bringing workers from Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and other islands, to help fill post-war UK labour shortages.

 

[had e nuff]

There is life on the other side. Farming is like a drug you get on the treadmill mostly enjoying it, even the bad times, But there comes a time for reset. You need to get other interests or a part time job as a total shutdown is not good for your health. Takes a bit of getting used to but then becomes very enjoyable in my case going on long holidays. I intend probably 2023 due to covid to go to Oz and farm sit or do charity work for 4 or 5 months mixed with a bit of holiday time.

I'm not old enough to retire. I'm going to do ground maintenance and landscaping.

 

[kiwi pom]

After 34 years of farming I've made the decision to leave the industry. Had a few sleepless nights worrying about it.

You can always go back.
Good luck

I'm not old enough to retire. I'm going to do ground maintenance and landscaping.

Not getting a truck licence?

 

[had e nuff]

You can always go back.
Good luck

Not getting a truck licence?

Thought about it but like my own bed at night and hate traffic.

 

[Breakthru]

Thought about it but like my own bed at night and hate traffic.

Agreed, when you live rurally joining the multi lane car parks they have in urban areas is a nightmare. I only drive in the South through the night nowadays.

 

[Ffermer Bach]

What I voted for was that our useless civil servants could no longer hide behind the old adage of blaming it on Europe when claiming they couldn't change anything. Now when told to unravel something they have to do it or find a proper reason why not.

You and I may think that, however, the civil servants seem to have other ideas!

Senior civil servant accused of trying to thwart Government’s anti-woke agenda

Matthew Rycroft, the Home Office permanent secretary, said civil servants should accept Government policy 'on some issues'

www.telegraph.co.uk

Mr Rycroft, who has been Priti Patel’s most senior civil servant since last year, surprised participants in a video conference call when he suggested that "our democratically-elected leaders" did not always have to be obeyed.

 

[bluebell]

Bruce Almighty, you said if they reopened the mines they would not be queueing up for jobs thats very true ? its like alot of people of workable age nothing physically wrong? just dont work because it pays better on benifits, will all have them round here ? that and a bit of cash in hand ducking and diving ? Thats why the welfare state in this country will soon have to be overhauled? the country is in massive debt the interest will soon cripple it ? Why do you think all these people want to invade us in little boats? because here unlike where they come from you gets things such as free health care and free money for nothing? But its not free? someone has to pay for it ?

 

[thesilentone]

There is, and always will be a need for low cost labour unless we drastically improve the education standards in the UK. Living off a high-tech economy is all well and good, however you need the labour force to be up to the academic standards to compete globally.

At the moment the UK is way behind it's worldwide competitors, hence the insatiable demand for imported products. If we are really serious about climate change, then Worldwide logistics will need to change, shipping goods all over the planet is not sustainable and the only real conflict of conscience Brexiteer's should have about leaving the Common Market.

Why are we trucking gear here there and everywhere ? What happened to trains and local distribution ?

Our lifestyles have changed beyond comprehension in the last decade, for which supermarkets and the internet have played a leading role.

At the moment China are wiping the floor with it's competitors and will soon become the largest economy in the World, how ? Cheap labour ! and we have played there game and right into there hands.

However, nothing is forever...........

 

[caveman]

If people didn't keep chucking stuff away, we wouldn't need so many truck movements delivering new disposable crap.

 

[caveman]

There is, and always will be a need for low cost labour unless we drastically improve the education standards in the UK. Living off a high-tech economy is all well and good, however you need the labour force to be up to the academic standards to compete globally.

At the moment the UK is way behind it's worldwide competitors, hence the insatiable demand for imported products. If we are really serious about climate change, then Worldwide logistics will need to change, shipping goods all over the planet is not sustainable and the only real conflict of conscience Brexiteer's should have about leaving the Common Market.

Why are we trucking gear here there and everywhere ? What happened to trains and local distribution ?

Our lifestyles have changed beyond comprehension in the last decade, for which supermarkets and the internet have played a leading role.

At the moment China are wiping the floor with it's competitors and will soon become the largest economy in the World, how ? Cheap labour ! and we have played there game and right into there hands.

However, nothing is forever...........

What we need is a conscription of all for two or three years that puts every body through a spell of what many see as menial and beneath theirselves jobs...maybe then those permanently employed in such jobs would be valued a little more.

 

[thesilentone]

If people didn't keep chucking stuff away, we wouldn't need so many truck movements delivering new disposable crap.

Yes, China a Communist state produces monumental amounts of junk out of natural resources which we buy cheap, then ships it all over the planet for everyone else to throw away. (after it's been re-sold a few times on ebay and shipped around a bit more)

 

[Ffermer Bach]

Bruce Almighty, you said if they reopened the mines they would not be queueing up for jobs thats very true ? its like alot of people of workable age nothing physically wrong? just dont work because it pays better on benifits, will all have them round here ? that and a bit of cash in hand ducking and diving ? Thats why the welfare state in this country will soon have to be overhauled? the country is in massive debt the interest will soon cripple it ? Why do you think all these people want to invade us in little boats? because here unlike where they come from you gets things such as free health care and free money for nothing? But its not free? someone has to pay for it ?

I had a friend who lived in Yorkshire, his father was a miner, but his parents moved to Lincolnshire so their children would not end up going to work down the pit