Hire Uk Workers To Drive Lorries, Minister Tells Firms

[Roobaba]

Hire UK workers to drive lorries, minister tells firms
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58364308

Oh do I have to come back here and point out the inevitable consequences of B'exit.. yes I suppose I must.. education of the masses and all that I feel driven to point out FACTS!!
...although in this case maybe driven is the wrong word.. maybe not.. drivers in short supply ;O)

[New Judge]

//...do you not think £31k a year is a good wage for an HGV driver?//

I certainly do not. It's a dreadful job, stressful with appalling working conditions. Twice that pay is available for driving a main line or underground train. That job is far less stressful with almost all drivers returning to base following their shifts (the number of "overnight" turns are very small these days). Come to that, if you live within striking distance of London you can earn £30k doing secretarial work:

https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Salaries/london-secretary-salary-SRCH_IL.0,6_IM1035_KO7,16.htm

Many lorry drivers spend days at a stretch driving as many hours as they are allowed to and sleeping in their cabs. What would you rather do - that or answer the phone and do a bit of filing?

[davebro]

& HGV drivers tend to die young!

[New Judge]

Yes Dave. That's because they spend twelve hours a day sitting in a lorry cab with little opportunity for exercise and many live on an appalling diet of takeaway type food. You don't see many slim, athletic HGV drivers.

[ynnafymmi]

I went through a couple of Tescos,Asdas,Sainsburys today.Empty shelves everywhere.When i asked if it could be Covid related they basically laughed in my face."Naw,all to do with Brexit,hun,better get used to it".What an utter shambles.Thanks,Brexiteers.

[gulliver1]

16.26 Nafy ,how dare you blame Brexit for empty supermarket shelves.
Were any mars bars available?.

[royfromaus]

Just been to Asda, absolutely shocking scenes.



Shelf after shelf full of food!

[New Judge]

//"Naw,all to do with Brexit,hun,better get used to it"//

Of course, the shelf-stackers in Tesco's etc. (as valuable as they are) would be very well versed with the causes of the logistics problems their employers are suffering.

[Atheist]

NJ; are you well-versed? Are you in the retail business?

[New Judge]

No, but I read a lot.

[Hymie]

To Brexiteers, all problems due to Brexit are due to some other (unspecified) reason.

[bednobs]

saying that secretares "answer the phone and do a bit of filing" is just as ignorant as saying lorry drivers have it cushy

[gulliver1]

20.54 Hymie, Spot on .The Brexiteers are still wearing those Blinkers and looking down that tunnel.

[New Judge]

//saying that secretares "answer the phone and do a bit of filing" is just as ignorant as saying lorry drivers have it cushy//

Indeed it is. I was being flippant. So since you've picked up on it, let's be a bit more realistic: what would you consider the most demanding job (for £30k p.a.):

As an HGV driver, slogging up and down the country for twelve hours a day, stuck in traffic, coping with driving a 40 ton lorry in all weathers, eating in greasy spoons, sleeping in your cab for five or six nights a week, undergoing 35 hours of compulsory training every five years in order to renew your licence, running the risk of losing your job if you make a minor mistake and cause an accident

or...

Working in a comfortable office 9am-5pm five days a week, having an hour for lunch, possibly at an agreeable cafe or wine bar or perhaps doing a bit of shopping, having a coffee whenever you fancy one, undertaking some administrative tasks, facing just a mild admonishment if you make the odd error.

Well???

[vulcan42]

Hymie and gulliver, the reason is not unspecified, it's called covid-19 and been here for nearly eighteen months. I'm surprised you haven't noticed it.

[bednobs]

now you really are just being facile NJ

[gulliver1]

22.06 Get over it vulcan, Brexit is going to bite you in the Bum after you have shot yourself in the foot . You will soon notice it.

[AuntPG]

NJ

UK HGV drivers are not allowed to work 12 hours a day and a handy piece of kit called a Tachograph prevents them from doing this.

UK HGV drivers must not work more than an average of 48 hours per week. With the average wage at £14.53 per hour that's £697 per week plus tax rebates on meals and related expenses. Hardly 'peanuts'

Failure To Comply with HGV Working Time Directives Can Result in Penalty, Fines, And Prosecution.

BTW The average salary for a Secretary in the UK is £20,921

[New Judge]

//UK HGV drivers must not work more than an average of 48 hours per week.//

Thanks, AUntPolly. I am well acquainted with HGV drivers' rules and enforcement. I was being flippant again but if you want to split hairs, drivers can drive for ten hours a day twice a week. They must not drive for more than 56 hours in that week and not more than 90 hours in a fortnight. The ten hour allowance was extended to a daily provision in July (IIRC) and that extension was due to end earlier this month. Whether it did or not I don't know and can't be bothered to look as all of it is largely off-topic.

//BTW The average salary for a Secretary in the UK is £20,921//

I know. If you look at the link I provided the £29k secretarial salary was for London based jobs and I qualified that in my post. I know not all secretaries work in London.

//now you really are just being facile NJ//

Why? We're discussing whether £30k is a good annual salary for driving an HGV. I've demonstrated what other jobs can be secured to earn that sum. I've also demonstrated that twice that sum can be earned for driving a train (which, in my view, is a far less stressful job). Branding that as "facile" means I have not considered the complexities of the issue. Well it isn't all that complex is it? Some believe £30k is reasonable for driving a lorry (however many hours that entails) when the same sum can be earned for sitting in an office for perhaps 35 hours a week. On that basis £30k for lorry driving is a poor deal.

[vulcan42]

gulliver, the only thing I've noticed is that your total obsession with Brexit has closed your mind to other factors causing the shortages.

[bednobs]

I would humbly suggest you have done neither job nj, that's why it's easy for you to denigrate one over the other. I would hazard a guess that not many people have done both. Its horses for courses though. I used to be a Macmillan nurse. Plenty of people would say "I don't know how you do that job" but in truth it was easy for me because I loved it and had the skills to do it.