Logistics company helps tackle HGV driver shortage

A Leicestershire logistics business which has already pledged tens of thousands of pounds in free training courses to tackle the shortage of UK HGV drivers is now supporting a county-wide recruitment initiative appealing to the public to start a career behind the wheel.

Narborough-based Translink Express Logistics, part of the Pallet-Track network, has attracted dozens of potential candidates by fully funding Leicester-based Hughes Driver Training, one of the UK’s biggest HGV academies.

Now Translink is part of a wider initiative spearheading the ‘Blaby District Let’s Talk Logistics’ initiative along with the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), Blaby District Council, Leicestershire County Council, Central England Co-operative, Aggregates Industries, Baker’s Waste and Samworth Brothers Distribution.

Blaby District Council has brought together key agencies and partners for ‘Blaby District Let’s Talk Logistics’ which is also supported by South Leicestershire MP Alberto Costa.

The initiative will introduce the benefits of the supply chain industry, a major employer across Leicestershire, at a recruitment event at Fosse Park Shopping Centre on Tuesday, October 12, from 9am to 4pm.

With the county employing thousands of workers in the logistics sector across the ‘golden triangle’ of the M1, A14, M69 and M6, the campaign is aimed at encouraging a wider selection of the public to learn more about supply chain career progression.

With more than 100,000 drivers needed across the UK and shortages in other key supply chain roles, the organisations behind the campaign will be encouraging more people to come forward and, importantly, increase the diversity of the existing candidate pool.

Chris Hobbis, commercial director of Translink Express, said: “The average age of an HGV driver is 55 and we desperately need to encourage younger people of all backgrounds to come forward and look at the career development that exist is within a dynamic sector that keeps the UK’s wheels turning.”

Along with Translink, both the Co-op and Blaby District Council want to encourage more women and people from wider ethnic backgrounds to consider careers in logistics.”

Cllr Terry Richardson, leader of Blaby District Council, said: “We are delighted to be playing a part in this important initiative. We want to see local people involved in such a vital sector to the economy, and to showcase the variety of roles available.

“It’s also a fantastic way of helping businesses in our district secure new employees to help them continue to prosper.”

Apart from paying the £2,500 training fee for each successful candidate, as well as their wages, Translink is also offering all new-pass HGV Class 2 drivers the opportunity to upgrade to HGV Class 1 within six months, for free.

Hobbis added: “There’s no upper limit to what we’re pledging here – we’re committed to investing whatever it takes to solve this problem.”

The launch of Translink’s training project comes shortly after Pallet-Track chief executive Caroline Green called on all of the company’s shareholder members to write to their MPs to raise the issue.

She said: “I’ve always said that collective action is the way to tackle this crisis – it is too big for one company to solve alone. This wider campaign and the issues that we have all seen in the headlines highlight the symbiotic relationship the sector has with everyday life that can only be solved through collaboration and bringing such a critical issue to the public attention.”