Off Topic The Burly Arms

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PINKIE said:
I think the UK's problem has been exacerbated by brexit, with lots of European drivers going back home during the pandemic and not returning because they can no longer work here. But the lack of HGV drivers is a european wide problem. The short term solution is to issue visa's to EU drivers to work here, longer term the Govt need to pay for HGV training to attract people to the profession. Longer term than that, the whole industry needs reform around drivers hours, conditions, facilities etc.

If you're going to attract younger drivers with families to the profession, then the idea of driving a truck 15 hours across the country, having to pay to stop overnight in some **** hole truck stop and then drive 15 hours back is going to have to be made a lot more attractive.

My concern is that this Govt will try and cut corners by extending the hours of existing truck drivers, and / or bump up light goods vehicle drivers to HGV and bypass the safety issues on the back of 'get the country moving again'
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I think you missed my point under the link, why would drivers come here when there are also bigger shortages of drivers in Poland and after the UK the next highest is Germany. The whole of Europe is suffering shortages, I'm curious to know why Brexit or not, why drivers would cross the channel to drive for us, when there are nearer hauliers to their homeland, what part of the picture is missing here?
 
brb said:
I think you missed my point under the link, why would drivers come here when there are also bigger shortages of drivers in Poland and after the UK the next highest is Germany. The whole of Europe is suffering shortages, I'm curious to know why Brexit or not, why drivers would cross the channel to drive for us, when there are nearer hauliers to their homeland, what part of the picture is missing here?
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Poland, UK and Germany are the worst affected, but there would be plenty of drivers from other parts of the EU that I bet would be willing to come here simply because the wages would be so much better than in places like Hungary, Latvia, Romania, Lithuania etc
 
PINKIE said:
Poland, UK and Germany are the worst affected, but there would be plenty of drivers from other parts of the EU that I bet would be willing to come here simply because the wages would be so much better than in places like Hungary, Latvia, Romania, Lithuania etc
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You've picked the likelist poorest paid countries I noticed, so what about France, Germany, Poland, why the UK?

They weren't well paid here, we had to increase pay to keep British drivers.
 
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brb said:
You've picked the likelist poorest paid countries I noticed, so what about France, Germany, Poland, why the UK?

They weren't well paid here, we had to increase pay to keep British drivers.
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Well Germany and Poland have the worst shortages (along with us) so that rules them out.

So why not open up visas to drivers from those countries I mentioned ? It goes against the grain of Brexit, so I think this Govt will dig their heels in, but it's certainly a temp solution.

I think the starting salary for UK HGV drivers can be something around £50k, so it's a good wage. But long hours and **** conditions have probably contributed to people not wanting to join the profession, along with the older drivers retiring.
 
PINKIE said:
Well Germany and Poland have the worst shortages (along with us) so that rules them out.

So why not open up visas to drivers from those countries I mentioned ? It goes against the grain of Brexit, so I think this Govt will dig their heels in, but it's certainly a temp solution.

I think the starting salary for UK HGV drivers can be something around £50k, so it's a good wage. But long hours and **** conditions have probably contributed to people not wanting to join the profession, along with the older drivers retiring.
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why would they prefer to come here than Germany when they can stay nearer to home with the added protection of being inside the EU
 
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PINKIE said:
Well Germany and Poland have the worst shortages (along with us) so that rules them out.

So why not open up visas to drivers from those countries I mentioned ? It goes against the grain of Brexit, so I think this Govt will dig their heels in, but it's certainly a temp solution.

I think the starting salary for UK HGV drivers can be something around £50k, so it's a good wage. But long hours and **** conditions have probably contributed to people not wanting to join the profession, along with the older drivers retiring.
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What? Explain to me again why Germany and Poland are ruled out?
 
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PINKIE said:
In terms of attracting drivers from those countries to the UK
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Why would they come here and not Poland and Germany?

You keep on rattling about Brexit, yet for some reason by your stance the UK is more attractive to drive for, more attractive than Europe, I want you to explain why that is?
 
Solid_Air 2 said:
why would they prefer to come here than Germany when they can stay nearer to home with the added protection of being inside the EU
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You're right. I don't think they would, unless you made the salary better than Germany.

As you say, they also have the benefits of EU workers rights and the associated protections of being in the EU if they went to Germany.

As I said, Brexit has exacerbated our problems. The other issues around general driver shortages seem to be european wide.
 
brb said:
Why would they come here and not Poland and Germany?

You keep on rattling about Brexit, yet for some reason by your stance the UK is more attractive to drive for, more attractive than Europe, I want you to explain why that is?
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I'm not saying it is. I'm saying we would have to make it more attractive.

That would probably mean an even bigger increase in wages.
 
PINKIE said:
I'm not saying it is. I'm saying we would have to make it more attractive.

That would probably mean an even bigger increase in wages.
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but it wasn't attractive in the past, we've just had to increase wages. So I'll ask yet again, why would they bypass all those European countries to come and work for a Brexit UK....the same country, government and people you keep slagging off?
 
PINKIE said:
You're right. I don't think they would, unless you made the salary better than Germany.

As you say, they also have the benefits of EU workers rights and the associated protections of being in the EU if they went to Germany.

As I said, Brexit has exacerbated our problems. The other issues around general driver shortages seem to be european wide.
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<laugh>
 
brb said:
but it wasn't attractive in the past, we've just had to increase wages. So I'll ask yet again, why would they bypass all those European countries to come and work for a Brexit UK....the same country, government and people you keep slagging off?
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Well that's my point, they won't. Unless we add extra incentives.
 
brb said:
So why don't France, Germany and Poland offer extra incentives, because they are short of drivers too?
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As Solid has said, they'd likely choose Germany, France or Poland as it's nearer to their homeland and offers the protection of being in the EU.

Maybe Boris could offer drivers to come and have tea and biscuits at his gaff or something as a sweetener.
 
PINKIE said:
As Solid has said, they'd likely choose Germany, France or Poland as it's nearer to their homeland and offers the protection of being in the EU.

Maybe Boris could offer drivers to come and have tea and biscuits at his gaff or something as a sweetener.
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But they haven't chosen France, Germany or Poland, the drivers vacancies remain unfilled, so why do they remain unfilled?
 
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