With om15 we often get a half baked, false or, at least, tendentious statement of the reality. The problem will not be miraculously solved by 200 army drivers. There is a shortage of drivers, judged those who know, of some 100,000 drivers across all industry sectors in this country.om15 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 02, 2021 10:27 amRather shocking news this morning, the lorry driver shortage in Germany caused by Brexit has resulted in tanker drivers without the qualifications being recruited as emergency measures, I wonder how the insurance will work, that certainly is a desperation move by Germany.
Every garage forecourt in my area is in normal operation, queues of two or three cars, diesel, E5 and E10 available. It is thought that the precautionary stand by of Army drivers will result in the resumption of normal service throughout the country in a few days, a potential crisis well handled in my opinion.
Quite naturally, the Germans would rather have their people working in their economy rather in the UK, particularly after Brexit. There is a world wide shortage of HGV drivers, and Germany, like many other countries, has been affected. Britain has foolishly allowed the problem to get out of hand in the pursuit of the Brexit agenda, and has been very badly impacted by the loss of the drivers we did have working here from Europe. The German government is clearly no more competent than ours mind, in the realm of targetting their driver market, as the article below highlights.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/p ... 30558.htmlThe government has asked thousands of Germans residing in the UK to drive lorries to assist with the HGV shortage, even if they have never driven one before.
A letter was sent by the Department for Transport, signed by transport minister Baroness Vere, asking Germans who live in Britain to “consider returning” to the HGV driving sector.
The letter states: “Your valuable skills and experience have never been more needed than they are now.
“There are fantastic HGV driving opportunities in the logistics industry and conditions of employment have been improving across the sector. As well as attractive pay rates, we are seeing more options for flexible working, fixed hours, fixed days, full time and part time.”
German driving licences issued before 1999 include an entitlement to drive a small to medium-sized truck of up to 7.5 tonnes. It is understood that almost all Germans residing in the UK who hold such a licence have been sent the letter, almost none of whom have ever driven an HGV before.
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One 41-year-old German man, who received two copies of the letter at his London home on Friday morning, one addressed to him and another for his wife, told The Independent.
“We were quite surprised,” he said. “I’m sure pay and conditions for HGV drivers have improved, but ultimately I have decided to carry on in my role at an investment bank. My wife has never driven anything larger than a Volvo, so she is also intending to decline the exciting opportunity.
“It is nice to know there are specialist jobs available here for us though after Brexit. We would never have been headhunted to drive a lorry if we’d gone back to Germany.”
