Recruiters Going Outside of Britain to Find HGV Drivers

It used to be that recruiting companies in England could concentrate on Scotland and Wales to get HGV drivers into open jobs. They would often recruit drivers by offering them help finding accommodations and getting familiar with the various regions of England where they would be driving. Now though, the supply of qualified drivers from Scotland and Wales has dried up. So where are recruiters working now? They are targeting foreign drivers from places such as Bulgaria, Romania, and Poland.

A recent report by the Daily Mail profiled one Swindon recruiter who has begun offering HGV drivers a £100 bonus for successfully recruiting others willing to work a minimum of four weeks. The agency’s current drivers are mainly foreigners from Poland and Bulgaria. The agency says they are forced to look outside of Great Britain because there are simply not enough drivers here willing to take the work.

Drivers successfully recruited by their peers will be given assistance for relocation and assimilation. Details of that assistance have not been disclosed, but we suspect it would come in the form of both financial and personal assistance. It should be noted that the Swindon firm is not the only recruiting agency now utilising this strategy.

The current driver shortage is such that recruiters, training companies, and employers have few other choices. If there are not enough Britons willing to do the work, there are plenty of Eastern Europeans waiting to come on board. It is a matter of going out and finding them.

Licenced HGV Drivers

We want to make it clear that we take no position regarding recruiting efforts of some who would look to foreign countries. It should also be made clear that all of the foreign drivers coming to work in Britain will have to be licenced HGV drivers with proper CPC certification. Recruiters will not be able to legally put non-licensed drivers into open positions; nevertheless, operators would be foolish to allow the practice.

It is our hope that the various stakeholders within the British haulage and transport industries find ways to work together to solve the driver shortage without having to look overseas. Here at the HGV Training Centre, we would prefer that all of our HGV drivers be Britons. Why give the work to Eastern Europeans when we have so many here who need jobs? We need to do more to develop the domestic workforce.

We are doing our part by training HGV drivers at more than 45 different facilities. We are proud to be one of Britain’s leading names in commercial driver training, offering classes for all types of commercial vehicles. We train drivers to operate lorries, tipper trucks, construction equipment, coaches, buses, and more. We even offer forklift training and classes for non-professionals who tow utility trailers, horsebox trailers, and caravans.

The HGV Training Centre utilises a fast-paced approach designed to get HGV drivers on the road in a matter of weeks. Call us for more information.

Sources:

1. Daily Mail – https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3044827/Where-did-Britain-s-truckers-Agency-forced-offer-cash-bonuses-Eastern-European-lorry-drivers-t-staff-here.html