Pinchbeck haulage firm offering £5,000 golden hello

A haulage firm is offering new drivers a £5,000 bonus in a bid to ease the current labour crisis.

Logistics companies have faced a perfect storm of tax rules changes, Brexit and Covid and are now desperately short of employees to transport their goods.

There’s now a wage ‘price war’ under way with hourly rates rising by as much as 25% in recent weeks to entice people into the roles and people are now being paid as much as £15 an hour on weekdays and £20 an hour at the weekends.

Gist, in Wardentree Lane in Pinchbeck, has tried to up the ante with a new welcome and retention package.

It’s also hoping to use its driving school to get people up to speed in the role - and pays for the three-month training process for employees, something that could cost up to £5,000.

HR manager Wendy Fowler said: “I believe we are offering something no-one is offering

“The bonus is hopefully a short-term solution to help with the crisis but the training school is the long term solution to get more people into the industry.

“We need to tackle it in both ways.

“With our ageing driving population, even if we didn’t have this crisis we would be looking to do something in the next few years anyway.”

Gist is 65 drivers short at its Wardentree Lane site alone - meaning a potential £325,00 bonus bill.

It is having to reduce some loads and has seen its pool of subcontractors plummet from 96 to about 20.

Gist’s package would see new recruits get £1,000 after six weeks and another £1,000 after 12 weeks. There would then be three further £1,000 payments - in January and July next year and in January 2023.

People can also earn £500 for referring a friend.

Last week we reported on a petition launched by Phoenix Drivers to help alleviate the shortage.

The firm, in Enterprise Way in Pinchbeck, wants the Government to scrap some of the red tape that makes it harder for ex drivers to return to the fold.

MP Sir John Hayes has said he supports the idea - and has now offered to take the petition to Parliament so that the matter can be raised in the House of Commons.

Sir John, a former transport minister, said: “Somebody who has qualified and learned to drive shouldn’t have to go through extra tests.

“I totally support this and would be very happy to present it to Parliament. We need to get more people back into the industry.”

Sir John believes more can be done to improve conditions for drivers - not least with the quality of road services - and to promote the industry, including reaching out to light goods vehicle drivers and young people.

He added: “I think HGV driving has a lot going for it.

“We can make young people aware that this is a career option. Logistics is not just about driving a lorry forever you might want to move on to do other things.

“My uncle was a lorry driver and he went on to be a transport manager.”