Guidance & Support

Supporting the efforts regarding the fight of the pandemic we are experiencing right now, it would seem that the Krone group have conducted over 25 campaigns to help people get vaccinated. This is happening across every production site and it has taken place since the start of the pandemic. They have chosen to administer over 8,300 vaccination doses and they have shown that they have been able to give shots to 50% of their employees. They have also given out doses to the family members of the people who work for them as well which is major news to say the least. If you have ever worked in the industry of driver recruitment then you will know how important it is to make sure that people get vaccinated. Some driver jobs and warehouse jobs are being published by companies, stating that any driver or worker, whether they are coming through a driving agency or not, has to have the jab. Industrial workers are also feeling the squeeze when it comes to people being off work as well, because of the virus. The cost of the campaign is said to come to over two million euros. This is when you add up the cost of materials, the masks that are being used as well as sanitiser as well. If you add this to the labour cost then you will soon see that a lot of the replanning has come during quarantine. Krone have proven that they are capable of pushing the movement forward in regards to vaccination and that they are doing everything they can to make sure that people get the support they need when it comes to making educated decisions regarding the jab and the benefits it has to offer.

The government have to prioritise the grants for well over 10,000 workers to try and encourage EU drivers to see if they can return to support the UK's supply chain. They are doing this to try and encourage people to help out and this is all based on the independent research that is being done by the company Repgraph. They have found that over 14,000 European HGV drivers happened to leave employment in the year 2020 and 600 have returned. This is a huge gap to say the least and it would seem that more needs to be done to try and stop this from impacting the future.

The EU workers who happened to leave the UK in 2020 did so ahead of Brexit. These people were utterly critical to the UK supply chain. They are now starting to see the huge impact on the UK. Businesses, homes, retailers and schools are all starting to suffer and that is why the industry is working so hard to recruit new drivers. They are also trying to implement new apprenticeships and various other training schemes. They are also working with the DVSA to speed up the testing scheme. The measures are going to take quite some time to produce new drivers. The industry needs drivers right now and that is why they are urging the government to replace the visa scheme. They are also trying to do it for agricultural workers too. This is being done to ensure that trucks and vans are kept on the road. If you work in driver recruitment or if you are a part of a driving agency because you are seeking driver jobs then this is a very important point for you to keep in mind.

The government have announced that they are trying to tackle the shortage of lorry drivers right now. They have done this by trying to create an additional 50,000 lorry tests. The changes are going to come into force very shortly and it is going to follow a public consultation over the summer. This saw thousands of respondents as well as industry leaders. Everyone is going to support the move and it is going to be a positive step to try and help the sector tackle the huge shortage that is in place right now. The shortage is impacting lorry drivers from all around the world. If you work in driver recruitment or if you are seeking driver jobs, then you will know how bad it is, and you will also know why a change now is so important. If you are working with a driving agency, then the effects will probably last for quite some time, which isn't good to say the least.

That is why the changes to the tests are going to come into force as quickly as possible. A public consultation is going to take place over the summer, and this saw thousands of respondents. This happens to include industry leaders and more. These changes will not change the standard that people have to meet in order to drive a vehicle but it does take into account things such as road safety and being a competent driver. Any driver who is not able to demonstrate that they are competent will not be given their license. Car drivers will still be encouraged to tow other things though, such as caravans and trailers, so this is an important note to think about if you are thinking about trying to get your license yourself.

The chief of the Pallet-Track company has said that he wants to have a moratorium on the DCPC. He wants to encourage any HGV drivers who might have left the industry to get back throughout the wheel. Caroline Green has stated that the government are very much committed to helping HGV license holders to thank them for the hard work that they have put in, and they are also tyring to help as many lapsed drivers who might not have their license anymore to come back. They have also announced that over 4,000 drivers are going to be trained and tested at bootcamps and that this is going to help address part of the driver shortfall. Those who work in driver recruitment are seeing the shortage first-hand and this is not good. If you work in a driving agency or if you are seeking driver jobs, then you will know how impacted the industry is but at the end of the day, things are trying to help curb this.

The sector experienced a driver shortage right before Brexit and of course, Covid. They saw 30,000 HGV tests cancelled on top of the 14,000 drivers who returned to the European Union. The average age of the HGV driver is actually 55 and it's a known fact that 10,000 drivers retire every single year. 20,000 have also quit the sector for their own personal reasons. Caroline have said that the government have acted very slowly on the matter and that there are going to be shortages ahead of peak Christmas times but there is still time for things to bounce back. Who knows if this is going to happen or not, but right now, people are doing everything they can to try and ensure that the right support is given.

Walkers Transport are actually a leading provider when it comes to UK transport. They have implemented financial platforms to try and cater to their 320-strong workforce. This is being done to try and help the staff to take control of their own finances. The shortage of haulage drivers in the UK and even Europe has been made bigger by things like Brexit and even the pandemic. Walkers have tried to take as many proactive efforts as they can to try and help improve the overall financial health of those who are trying to work in the transport industry. They are also going to try and help those who work in the logistics industry too.

Staff are now going to be able to benefit from the Level's suite of wellbeing services. This includes the earned wage access and salary-linked savings too. They are also going to benefit from budgeting tools as well as the financial help from guidance from organisations such as the Money and Pension service. They have stated that the health of their team is a priority and that they need to try and help the driver recruitment industry as much as possible. They are trying to help those who are coming up through a driving agency as well. Of course, if you are seeking driver jobs then incentives such as this should help to improve working conditions and this is good news for everyone. Jason Scott has said that by partnering with Level they have been able to give their workforce a huge range of tools which will help them to take control of their finances. They have stayed in the industry spotlight more than ever before and they have said that they want to recognise the importance of their team efforts.

TPN, a known pallet network have launched a tail-lift checklist which actually checks for driver risk assessment as well. They have done this with the ePOD application which is going to significantly benefit those who work those with tail-lift deliveries, including those who work in transport recruitment and even those who may be seeking HGV jobs or driver jobs. Of course, they have the aim to ultimately try and improve public safety at this time and they are also going to try and make sure that the process is as quick and as efficient as possible.

Drivers have to make sure that they use this checklist so that they can do everything they can to follow the checklist as much as possible. At the end of the day, TPN is the very first network to go fully live with the risk assessment and it would seem that they have developed it into the app before the main guidance was even released. Mark Kendall who is from the company has released a statement to say that what the market is going to need is safety and that they need to be proactive, not reactive. If they can make sure that this is the case then there's no reason at all why everyone cannot benefit from this. Incorporating the checklist into the system essentially means that it's not just convenient for the driver but also the partners who are working with them. They are also going to want to try and make sure that the right risk assessments are carried out as much as possible.

Compliance is the best practice and it would seem that it is essential as well. Integrating the risk assessment with familiar software is going to help to boost confidence and it is also going to help any tail deliveries that may need to be made in the field.

KCL Logistics are based in Wallsend and they are able to cut logistics times in half. They have stated that they want to do everything they can to improve the general operational efficiency of how things work and they also want to try and invest in job planning too. They require electronic proof of delivery as well and they believe that they are going to be able to make invoicing faster too. If you have a transport recruitment position or if you are dealing with driver jobs and HGV jobs then you will know what a fantastic movement this is for the industry,

KCL and Chilled Distribution

KCL specialise in various things but the main one for them would be chilled distribution. They are also able to deal with the wholesale of vegetables and fresh fruit too. They were established in the year 2011 and ever since then they have continued to grow. They now have a fleet of over 15 vehicles and they have 23 people who are working with them. The business owners have decided that now is the time for them to find a better and more efficient way of working. They have stated that they did not have much visibility regarding the key processes and that they did not get much help with the marketing decisions either. In fact, a lot of it was based on assumptions as opposed to hard facts. They also looked at the market and they found that a cloud-based management system from Mandata would be the way to go.
They have halved the time it takes to get jobs done and this is going to help them to become a much more efficient company overall. Only time will tell what the future holds, but so far it's looking bright.

Volvo want to do everything that they can to improve safety and that they have gone as far to create unique sounds to boost all of their truck models. They are putting in the work to boost alerts and they also want to make sure that they are both pleasant and unobtrusive. They want this to be the case for the driver and for those who may be working close-by. This is going to really benefit those who work in various industries, including transport recruitment but it is also going to work well for those who are seeking HGV jobs or driver jobs. The alert is really going to boost safety and this is going to be the case for cyclists and various other road-users.

It's going to start on the 1st of July and the electric vehicles are going to be made available in the UK. They are going to emit a certain sound which is going to travel at speeds that are below 12mph. The sound required depends on the speed and this gets much higher when the vehicle slows. At 12mph, it should be at around 56 decibels and if the vehicle is far too quiet then the AVAS has to be added. Of course, to meet all of the new requirements, and at the same time benefit noise levels, it would seem that Volvo trucks have come up with their own unique and premium sounds. They know that people may have a hard time hearing traffic but this is going to stop all of that from being an issue by implementing safety sounds which are going to work wonders for those who work in the industry. That being said, it's also going to benefit those who don't which is fantastic to say the last.

A specialist haulier company with headquarters in Essex have gone ahead and they have completed the purchase of over 15 ultra-low emission HGVs. They have done this after securing a seven-figure finance facility. The investment is going to help to meet all of the increased demands that there are and it is also going to help meet any new legislative requirements too. If you work in transport recruitment or if you are currently seeking HGV jobs or even driver jobs then you will know how important it is for moves like this as they help to spur on the future of the industry.

The Funding

The funding has helped to enable the company known as Container Lift to upgrade their entire IT system. It has also helped them and their workforce to try and adapt to new ways. This is going to help to bolster remote working in the future. Joost Baker who is the managing director over at Container Lift has stated that companies are now requiring a much higher level of logistical support because of the pandemic and that there is now a huge demand for the services in general. Transport and logistics are going to play a huge part in the general recovery of the economy and they are very proud to say that they are now able to increase the capacity like never before. They have also stated that they would like to thank HSBC Finance and they would also like to try and make sure that they put a good word in for all of the people who have worked with them so far. This is all very good news to say the least and it just goes to show how far things have come in general.

The sales start this year has given Volvo a huge boost. They believe that the time is now right for an upswing in the electrification of heavy goods vehicles in general. The positive outlook here is all based on the Volvo’s electric fleet. In the EU- it’s estimated that over 50% of all trucks could well eb electrified in the future. International transport buyers are now showing some very strong interest when it comes to electric vehicles and this is all being driven by their total ambition when it comes to climate change goals. On top of this, you have the consumer demand when it comes to decarbonisation as well as for cleaner transports. At the end of the day, more and more companies are now realising that they do in fact need electrification in order to move forward. They need this to ensure that they have a competitive reason to satisfy their customer requirements. They also need to ensure that they satisfy the goals when it comes to sustainable shipping. With the deep and wide offerings it’s safe to say that those who work in transport recruitment are going to have more options than ever. If you work in the industry of driver jobs or even in HGV jobs then it’s safe to say that the new sales are going to kickstart a whole new movement. After all, electrified transport is now not just suited to urban areas, but also for areas that experience a huge amount of regional traffic. In addition to this, the Volvo FMX model is creating new ways to try and make construction operations much quieter as well as making them cleaner. This is a very positive movement to say the least and it could only mean good things are to come.