Extended hours for HGV drivers -good idea?

[premmington]

I think that goes for most of the population of this country.

Until now, when the shortage of drivers is starting to affect the average "man in the street", most people seem to have very little comprehension of the fact that by and large most of what they possess was in a lorry at some stage, or as the bumper sticker beloved of the Americans proclaims- If you bought it a truck brought it. Society as a whole seems to be so far removed from reality that it's fair to say that a large percentage of the population have little or no idea how everything from the food on the supermarket shelves to the petrol at the filling station got there in the first place, and the sad thing is I don't think they care either. Like many aspects of society, few people care about how or why it works until it doesn't.

For many years the road haulage industry has been neglected by the powers that be and that's why the country is now suffering from empty shelves and increased prices. Driver facilities have been declining steadily for decades to the point where if a driver who is out overnight isn't parked up by about 5 or 6 o'clock he or she will struggle to find somewhere safe. Most of the motorway service areas haven't changed since they were built back in the 70's but lorries have got bigger and there's many more of them. Most of the old school transport cafes are long gone putting even more pressure on the remaining parking places, which leaves drivers having to park in laybys at the side of the road with high speed traffic passing by within a few feet of them while they're trying to get to sleep or parking in industrial estates and risking having their diesel stolen.

There's also the demographic to consider. The average age of a lorry driver in the UK is 58 which means that most of them are close to retirement but there are very few younger drivers replacing them. When I first started work over 40 years ago it was obvious when it was school holidays because many young lads went out in the wagon with their dads, but the ludicrous health and safety rear end covering culture that's rife in the country has put a stop to that as well. Covid and Brexit aren't to blame either, they're both factors which have contributed to this state of affairs but the blame doesn't lie solely with them.

I don't know what the answer is to the present situation and I certainly don't think there's some "magic bullet" quick fix to it all, but I can foresee it getting worse before it gets better, if it ever does...

Your quote "The average age of a lorry driver in the UK is 58 which means that most of them are close to retirement but there are very few younger drivers replacing them."

I think you have "hit the nail on the head" - with the core problem.

 

[fizzy]

Your quote "The average age of a lorry driver in the UK is 58 which means that most of them are close to retirement but there are very few younger drivers replacing them."

I think you have "hit the nail on the head" - with the core problem.

It doesn't help all this talk of driverless vehicles. Many people are fooled into thinking they are just around the corner so are reluctant to take up lorry driving.
I would like to see a robot operating a tail lift and dragging a pallet of tiles up someones drive

 

[jimbo84]

It doesn't help all this talk of driverless vehicles. Many people are fooled into thinking they are just around the corner so are reluctant to take up lorry driving.
I would like to see a robot operating a tail lift and dragging a pallet of tiles up someones drive

No probs

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

It doesn't help all this talk of driverless vehicles. Many people are fooled into thinking they are just around the corner so are reluctant to take up lorry driving.
I would like to see a robot operating a tail lift and dragging a pallet of tiles up someones drive

That's a miniscule problem to solve for trunk routes and big depots compared to actual driverless lorries

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

Can't see how that's sustainable

Lorry drivers being recruited at truck stops offered £54 an hour

Lorry drivers are being given £2,000 golden handshakes and day rates equivalent to £100,000 a year

www.lancs.live

 

[Agrismith]

Can't see how that's sustainable

Lorry drivers being recruited at truck stops offered £54 an hour

Lorry drivers are being given £2,000 golden handshakes and day rates equivalent to £100,000 a year

www.lancs.live

I would take that with a pinch of salt.
That would be last minute one of jobs which do always comand a higher in rate but then you need to find work the next day.
And the singing bonuses I've seen all state they are paid after x amount of months so they probably only pay out on a tiny proportion of them as they know the types of driver's that will be signing up to them will most likely be the same lot that will jump ship over the chance to drive a truck with more chrome.