I'm not a great fan of those under 21 being in charge of large goods vehicles, as i understand it the move to allow 18 year olds was part of a HGV apprenticeship scheme, it wasn't just another industry move to keep wages low in the sector...armed forces is a different thing entirely.

Maxime, the alleged driver shortage never was, what there was (and still is) is a shortage of skilled experienced professional drivers prepared to work for peanut hourly rates and only making a living wage by working 60/70 hour weeks and sleeping in laybys...there's ways around the 48 hour average week by usiing one particular setting on the tachograph.

There are huge numbers of still licenced skilled HGV drivers who have been demoralised deskilled dumbed down belittled unappreciated overworked underpaid and have said to hell with it and found other work, that's the shortage.

The 'shortage' was yet another example as if we didn't have enough of overhyped media driven fearmongering, decent employers never had any shortage of good drivers wanting to work for them, the ones who had no drivers paid peanuts and treated their staff poorly and got exactly what anyone would expect in return, the poor paying side of the industry also made a huge song and dance about this 'shortage' probably in the hope the govt would release taxpayer funds (govts have no money other that what they borrow or take from the people) to train hundreds of people already out of work who never wanted to be lorry drivers anyway so the poor payers could continue paying peanuts.

Whilst the govt did start paying for some training invariably those who really wanted to be lorry drivers (who usually make the the best ones because they want to learn and improve continually) couldn't get the funding either and somehow found around £3500 themselves, politicians, bah.

Luckily many employers worried by this shortage awarded large pay increases to retain and recruit, so some good came of it all, other employers who always offered good terms and conditions wondered what all the fuss was about.

going back to my first sentence, i paid for and passed my class 1 (you can once again go straight for an artic licence) at age 21, that was young enough, luckily i'd cut my teeth on 7.5 tonners for 3 years previously so knew what the job was about and had covered many thousands of miles learning my way about, and just how little grip truck tyres have in the wet!, on something small, i still believe this is the best way to start out rather than being thrown in the deep end with a full weight artic, and they're all too easy to drive now so people get complacent, the contact points of rubber on the road haven't changed much in 46 years.

Can absolutely guarantee no 18 year olds will be driving trucks where i work, we have age and experience restrictions, they will however put the odd suitable driver who have proven themselves for several years on our rigids through the artic test if they have a rigid only licence.

Oh and on the subject of laybys, during the recent covid farce people in the gov made politicians promises of new facilities for hgv drivers, after they realised for the first time in their privelidged lives that we exist as more than what they sc***ed off their brogues and that we provide a necessary service...am yet to see any of these new facilities and won't be holding my breath in the future awaiting their opening...the situation is dire for female HGV drivers in particular re toilet facilities, you can't just abandon a 60ft long vehicle anywhere and dash off into a loo if it doesn't exist, the WC situation for everyone in the UK is a national disgrace, as are many other things.

Sorry for the extra long post, got a bit carried away there.

Edited by gordonbennet on 13/12/2023 at 16:14