For many companies, 2021 was their “annus horribilis” with many failing to make it to the end of the year. We all know the primary reasons but let’s not discuss the obvious upheavals and look instead at some of the side-shows and events that were thrown up by the major events – or that never actually materialised.
#1 The power of supermarkets to control driver wages
The only factor that drove wages up was the demand for drivers from supermarkets. Notorious for squeezing suppliers, now they offer the highest rates of pay and signing-on bonuses. They, of course, can easily recoup rising costs by adjusting consumer prices. Just a slight increase across their thousands of product lines will not cause significant grumbles amongst consumers.
Expect the reverse to happen as more drivers become available over the next two years and supermarkets once again squeeze driver salaries.
That is bad news for small hauliers and those locked into contracts where the margins are too slim to pay drivers any extra. Which of course won’t happen with AVAIL drivers as they get the full rate that the operators/hauliers set.
#2 Fuels costs are still way too high
Unlike France and Ireland, people in the UK seem to accept the very high level of excise duty that the government loads onto business transport costs. Polite appeals by various trade bodies have absolutely no impact, and so the situation continues unchanged.
Fuel costs not only impact the inflation rate directly at the pump (just wait until the UK implements tariffs on imports from the EU in 2022) but indirectly in the prices consumers must pay in their shopping baskets.
Applying a rebate for hauliers would be a relatively simple measure for the government to take, that would ease consumer prices at a stroke.
#3 Government inaction was no more than expected
A Prime Minister who is on record as saying “F**k business” in 2018 cannot be expected to implement a far-seeing range of measures to ease the driver shortage or start setting up the infrastructure required to improve conditions.
Increasing driving hours and fiddling with the license/testing system is merely tinkering at the fringes. The country needs firm action and a dedicated plan to remedy the faults.
#4 New drivers trickling onstream
Much has been made of the changes to the driver testing regime, which certainly has made for a more practical approach to achieving a C1 qualification. It seems that potential candidates are queueing up to become HGV drivers in significant numbers.
That is an excellent prospect but glosses over three significant factors:
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The time it takes for a driver to become experienced enough to take control of a £160k rig and load
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The inevitable attrition rate as new drivers experience the totally inadequate roadside facilities and working conditions that have driven their predecessors out of the occupation
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The inevitable downward pressure on rates of pay as supply increases to meet demand and equilibrium is eventually established.
The expectation is that the situation will have eased by summer 2023. We shall see.
#5 AVAIL services come of age with new features
Unsurprisingly, the driver shortage threw up some success stories. Depending on your perspective, higher driver wages could be considered a success, and so, also was the significantly increased demand for Avail’s pool of temporary drivers.
Avail bypasses the need for traditional recruitment agencies for short-term contracts, slashing costs for haulage companies and putting more money into the wage packets of drivers.
The upsurge in business helped identify some weaknesses in our processes, which we quickly rectified. It also popularised the service and Avail’s app which is very useful for drivers.
About AVAIL – your driver solution
At AVAIL, we’re working on resolving the driver shortage problem. We’re not a traditional agency, but a driver solution that matches HGV drivers with Operators for a set low fee of £7.50 per driver per day all through the AVAIL platform. Our online platform uses specially designed software that can be used anywhere at any time, the platform has just over 12,000 drivers active on the platform and are all IR35 compliant.
If you would like to see the platform in action, then book in for a demo with our New Business team, or if you aren’t ready for that. Email our New Business Manager, David Roberts with a question david.roberts@availtechnologies.co.uk.
