Britain’s trucker shortage jams post-pandemic recovery
- UK faces shortage of 100,000 truck drivers – industry group
- Disruption hits supplies to supermarkets and restaurants
- Brexit and COVID-19 compound recruitment challenge
- Employers offer hiring bonuses of up to 5,000 pounds
LONDON, Sept 3 (Reuters) – Two furloughed jumbo jet pilots and a burnt-out finance worker have been among the more unusual candidates to learn how to drive 44-tonne trucks at Laurence Bolton’s school in south London during the pandemic.
“You get people from all industries, and think: ‘Blimey, I never saw you here before 2020’,” Bolton said. “There are more people that have been displaced from retail, with the high street closing or certainly running down, and from hospitality.”
Business is brisk for truck driving schools as Britain emerges from its COVID-19 crisis. The country is facing an acute shortage of lorry drivers, and haulage companies are raising starting salaries and offering sign-on bonuses to entice candidates…
