Page 30 - issue 72

Not the driver shortage again!
put in this position because of pressure to reduce transport costs from its client This may be the the case but if there is really as as big a a a a a driver shortage as is made out (and probably less than one in a a a hundred C+E drivers is trained and quali ed ed to operate
a a a chemical tanker) then Suttons’ client may well nd that sourcing an alternative cheaper transport provider is not as as as easy as as as they might think Taking action
As it happens the Suttons drivers have withdrawn their labour and have picket lines in in in place 1970s style Again this hardly indicates that the driver shortage is as bad as as it is made out to be: if there were as as many un lled vacancies as have been made out then the the Suttons drivers would simply have found better jobs elsewhere But the the sad fact is there are few better jobs elsewhere for truck drivers I can think of a a very well-known High Street retailer where new starts on the shop oor are paid £9 an an hour and experienced quali ed ed Cat C drivers delivering bulky items to people’s homes get under £8 an hour And that’s the the reason for the the driver shortage: there’s no shortage shortage of people who can drive trucks but there is a a a shortage of companies prepared to pay a a a a a a realistic wage to those who do ●
Another new year and and and another set
of whining stories based on press handouts about the UK’s so-called ‘driver shortage’ have already appeared in both the the national tabloids and the the specialist transport press But what’s the the reality? If there really was
a a a shortage of truck drivers (and the whiners reckon that the UK haulage industry is about 35 000 bodies short) then we’d be seeing a number of things happening The rst of these would be a slowing- down of the the new truck market: there’s no point in in in in in investing £100 000 in in in in in a vehicle
if there’s no one to drive it The second would be an increase in in drivers’ wages as as companies poached staff off one-another This is is certainly happening in in in commercial vehicle
dealerships where wages for decent technicians went up by as as much as as 10 per cent last year Study the performance
But registrations of new trucks last year were pretty much level-pegging with those of the year before with well over 44 000 new vehicles going on the road and across the industry drivers’ wages went up by somewhere between 2 5 and three per cent: less than price in ation Indeed it appears that some transport companies think the the way to address the the driver shortage is to sack their staff and then re- engaged them on a a a a a substantially lower wage Tanks a a lot
That’s the case at at global liquid chemical transport specialist Suttons Tankers where drivers in Ellesmere Port have reportedly been told that if they want to to keep working they must take a a a a wage cut of one-third and see other bene ts reduced as well Suttons may well argue that it has been FleetCheck urges more mental health checks
Mental health health is the the next key area where eets should look make improvements
in the health and safety of drivers says FleetCheck With around one in four people likely to be affected by a problem of this type during their lives it is something that employers should include in their risk management assessments said Peter Golding managing director “It is already a a a legal obligation to inform
the DVLA about a a a mental health problem that affects your ability to drive ” he explained “However as a a a risk management subject mental health is potentially much more complex than this If you are suffering from stress or depression for example it is likely that your employer would only feel the need to become involved if you are taking medication “There is research to show that depression can have a a a a direct impact in areas such
as concentration and reaction times both of which have a a direct effect on your suitability to be driving Fleets should arguably be considering these issues and including them in their risk management strategies ” Peter said that FleetCheck was
currently developing a a risk management app for a a a a client who had speci ed a a a a catch-all wellbeing question for eet drivers designed to form part of their regular walkaround vehicle
checks
“The app simply asks ‘Do you feel t t t to drive?’ This simple but fundamental question is one that eets in our experience almost never consider “This is is certainly a a question that could potentially help
to highlight any underlying
or emerging mental health problems from which a driver may be suffering that could compromise their abilities behind the wheel “As we become better at talking openly about mental health employers should be doing more to develop policies within their risk management strategy Across our industry it would be good to see a greater dialogue develop about this area ” ●