Dozens of applicants keen to join HGV driver training programme
COMPANY OFFERING TO PAY TRAINING AND WAGES FOR SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES
A TRANSPORT business says it has attracted dozens of applications after offering free training during the HGV driver crisis.
Organisations such as the Road Haulage Association estimate the UK needs 100,000 HGV drivers after Brexit forced thousands of European drivers to leave the country, while Covid got in the way of about 30,000 tests for potential new drivers last year.
There are fears current shortages of food and fuel could be followed by empty shelves this Christmas, despite the government back-tracking and offering visas for 5,000 EU drivers.
Narborough company Translink Express Logistics said it has attracted dozens of potential candidates with the offer of fully-funded training.
The business has offered to invest tens of thousands of pounds in free training courses through Leicester firm Hughes Driver Training, one of the UK’s biggest HGV academies.
Translink is offering to pay the £2,500 training fee for each successful candidate, as well as their wages.
It is also offering all new-pass HGV Class 2 drivers the opportunity to upgrade to HGV Class 1 within six months, free.
Translink Express commercial director Chris Hobbis said: “There’s no upper limit to what we’re pledging here – we’re committed to investing whatever it takes to solve this problem.
“The average age of an HGV driver is 55 and we desperately need to encourage younger people of all backgrounds to come forward and look at the career development that exist is within a dynamic sector that keeps the UK’s wheels turning.”
Translink is a member of the Pallet-Track network of freight companies whose chief executive, Caroline Green, recently called on all of the company’s shareholder members to write to their MPs to raise the issue.
She said: “I’ve always said that collective action is the way to tackle this crisis. It is too big for one company to solve alone.
“This wider campaign and the issues we have all seen in the headlines highlight the symbiotic relationship the sector has with everyday life that can only be solved through collaboration and bringing such a critical issue to the public attention.”
Mr Hobbis said his company is also supporting a Leicestershirewide recruitment scheme to get more people to consider a career behind the wheel.
The Blaby District Let’s Talk Logistics initiative hosted a recruitment event at Fosse Park on Tuesday.
Organisations involved included the Department of Work and Pensions, Blaby District Council, Leicestershire County Council, Central England Co-operative, Aggregate Industries, Baker’s Waste and Samworth Brothers Distribution.
The day promoted the benefits of
the supply chain industry, a major employer across Leicestershire because of its geographical centre of a distribution hub in the Golden Triangle of the M1, A14, M69, M6 and A5.
Along with Translink, both the
Co-op and Blaby District Council want to encourage more women and people from wider ethnic backgrounds to consider careers in logistics.
Coun Terry Richardson, leader of Blaby District Council said: “We are delighted to be playing a part in this important initiative.
“We want to see people involved in such a vital sector to the economy and to showcase the variety of roles available.
“It’s also a fantastic way of helping businesses in our district secure employees to help them continue to prosper.”
Lee Dundee, Central England Coop’s distribution warehousing manager, said: “As a business we are looking to open opportunities to everyone to get involved in the logistics and supply chain sector.
“We are keen to promote more sector opportunities for women and black, Asian and minority ethnic people – it’s a great sector with multiple career opportunities.”