The UK truck driver says working conditions are harsh

Dean Arnie, a truck driver in the UK for nearly 40 years, comments on the harsh working conditions and how this reflects on his personal life.

England needs truck drivers

Truck driver Dean Arnie comments on the tough career that has accompanied him for almost 40 years. Arnie explains that he is divorced, a very common situation with fellow professionals. He said he followed his father’s business and thought of his son going on the road.

He reports that working conditions that reflect family life are difficult and that wages are not enough to survive. Like fellow professionals accustomed to traveling across Europe, he is highly critical of British infrastructure (Brazilians are incredible to us).

British car parks charge us even at night and in the morning, there is a risk that you will still wake up when your truck door is broken and your cargo and fuel are stolen. There are reports that this could happen in Europe as well, but here it is already a real problem.

The shortage of truck drivers is getting worse

As an urgent measure to address the shortage of lorry drivers in the UK, the British government has promised up to 5,000 work visas, but only for a limited period of 3 to 6 months. So far, out of about 300 vacancies, only 27 applicants have shown interest.

According to Louis Gomez, chairman of the XPO Logistics Transport Group, although it is considered a positive move, it is too late because it does not have a strong and clear appeal to foreign drivers because it seems too temporary and there are better opportunities outside the country for drivers United.

Around 400,000 drivers went missing across Europe and 100,000 were from the UK, reflecting a shortage of experts in the country.

Another witness was Steven Evans, a former driver but now the owner of a transportation company in Liverpool. He says drivers suffer from low wages, poor installations across the country and frequent theft of goods. Evans comments that he had to go back to work on the road due to a shortage of manpower. The average age of drivers in the UK is around 58 years.

Carriers are currently trying to persuade new drivers to work six days a week and up to 15 hours on shifts. He says he previously paid his drivers 1,000 1,000 ($ 1,400 or 200 1,200) a week and now he has to go up to 1, 1,400 ($ 1,900 or 6 1,600).

There are still some discriminations, the British tell us that foreign drivers are here to pick up their jobs, but I do not see any Britons wanting to keep their jobs here, Evans summed up.

Another trucker, Steven Abbott, says there are reasons to prefer the continent to the UK. In France, for example, you can pay 10 or 11 euros for a full meal, starter, main course and dessert. In the UK, life is very expensive. You pay 7 to 10 pounds (8 to 12 euros) for a lasagna and chips or a piece of meat.

At 35, Abbott only wants to make short trips, allowing him to return home every night. I saw rain in places where water drips slowly, you have to hold it with both hands to moisten it, he says it is impossible to do this five nights a week.