A logistics company in Northampton is set to train and recruit up to 100 new delivery drivers in the next 12 months.
Set up by the directors of Northampton-based Action Express, AE Driver Training and Recruitment will fund the full cost of Category C+E licences and provide a guaranteed full-time job for those who pass.
The move follows Transport Secretary, Patrick McLoughlin’s warning of driver shortages ahead of Christmas, which saw consumers urged to shop earlier to avoid disappointment.
Building on 33 years’ experience in the logistics industry, the new company will provide professionally trained delivery drivers for local businesses.
Elaine Harries, who set up the new company with business partner Syed Ziaullah, said: “There’s currently a major shortage of Category C+E drivers here in the UK, while at the same time the ever increasing popularity of internet retailing has meant there is greater demand for drivers than ever before.
“In order to attract more people into the industry we’ve made the decision to fully fund the cost of acquiring up to a Category C+E licence, with a guaranteed full-time job at the end for those that pass.”
Edward handley - 01/03/2015 10:17
The current HGV driver shortage is the result of a number of different factors including changes to the licensing system in 1997, demographics, the working time directive, the Driver CPC and pay/conditions in the industry. If you look at the DVLA statistics, there are plenty of HGV/LGV licence holders - more than enough for all the trucks on UK roads. The problem is retention - many drivers get fed up with the combination of poor pay, poor status, primitive working conditions, stressful work meeting deadlines, congestion, heavy handed enforcement with substantial fines for purely technical breaches of complex regulations, etc.. The driver shortage is here to stay until drivers start getting better pay and working conditions improve. You can bring in as many free or Government subsidised training schemes as you want but they are a waste of time unless people who train as drivers decide the industry is worth staying in.