With the on-going HGV driver shortage, the government has offered more support to people who want to become HGV drivers. With Christmas just around the corner, the government is aiming to fill as many vacancies as possible, in order to reduce the risk of a shortage crisis over the Christmas period. The government are hoping to achieve this by implementing a range of new support schemes, which include:
- Offering support in training new drivers
- Using Ministry of Defence (MOD) examiners to carry out HGV driving tests over the next few months
- Distributing letters to over 1 million HGV drivers to encourage them back into the industry
- A temporary visa scheme to grant 5,000 overseas HGV class 1 and class 2 drivers to work in the UK over the Christmas period
Below, we have explained the four key ways the government are supporting the logistics industry and helping to reduce the current driver shortage in the UK:
New training courses
Firstly, there are 4,000 new training courses available for people to be trained as new HGV drivers.
This includes new boot camps, courtesy of the Department for Education, who are donating up to £10 million to train up to 3,000 new drivers. These boot camps are free intensive short courses, available to drivers who want to gain a category C or a category C+E licence.
Additional driving examiners
To help get HGV drivers working as quickly as possible, the MOD have deployed Defence Driving Examiners to assist with the HGV driving exam.
This will increase testing capacity, which will result in thousands of additional driving exams, meaning more HGV drivers able to work within the next few months.
Letters issued to HGV drivers
The Department of Transport (DfT) and DVLA are working to send approximately 1 million letters to encourage HGV drivers to get back into the industry.
This letter also highlights the improvements that have been made within the logistics and haulage sector over the past several months. This includes the flexible working hours and an increase in wages offered for HGV class 1 and class 2 driver jobs.
Recruiting overseas HGV drivers
The government have also announced a visa scheme which allows 5,000 overseas HGV drivers to work in the UK for 3 months during the Christmas period.
Furthermore, an additional 5,500 visas will be offered to poultry workers, to help support with the demand on the food industry over Christmas.
These visas are valid from this month until 24th December 2021, as the government hopes that employers will make a long-term investment in the industry by maintaining the higher wages offered.
How we can help you
Whether you have years of experience, or you’re a newly qualified driver, we can help support you with your driving career. We can provide you with regular work, great rates of pay, and we have a range of job positions available including HGV class 1 driver jobs and HGV class 2 jobs. This means we can definitely find a role that will suit your lifestyle.
If you’re a HGV driver or you’re interested in becoming one, we want to hear from you. Call our team on 0808 175 3644 or send us an email at enquiries@h-g-recruitment.com.
