The United States and its long-standing ally across the pond appear to be engaged in a global competition to attract qualified truck drivers. Following the lead set by American freight hauling outfits and federal government officials, the U.K. recently extended thousands of visas to foreign CDL-holders to close its driver gap.
“Everyone knew there had been some shortages for some time. So, it was not as if this was coming out of the blue,” European Center for International Political Economy official David Henig reportedly said. “You can make it worth people’s while. But it won’t be cheap, and it won’t be easy.”
Political insiders blame a poorly planned and orchestrated Brexit plan for supply chain hiccups. Among the more difficult challenges, gasoline and food shortages are causing worried Britons to stock up and even horde items. To alleviate the logistical headaches, the British government recently floated upwards of 5,000 visa opportunities to attract professional tractor-trailer operators, known as “H.G.V.” or “truckies” in the U.K.
“While we welcome the visa scheme to allow H.G.V. drivers from abroad to help temporarily fill domestic shortages in food and fuel logistics, the limit of 5,000 visas will do little to alleviate the current shortfall,” British Retail Consortium director Andrew Opie reportedly said. “Supermarkets alone have estimated they need at least 15,000 H.G.V. drivers for their businesses to be able to operate at full capacity ahead of Christmas and avoid disruption or availability issues.”
A recent Road Haulage Association survey indicates a combination of Brexit and the pandemic created a perfect workforce storm. Before the two events, the survey pointed to a driver shortfall on par with the U.S. at about 60,000. Following a mass exodus of E.U. citizens to the pandemic and Brexit estimated at 200,000 people, the U.K. lost a significant portion of its qualified truckies. These days, the data points to a need to swell fleets by as many as 100,000 new truckies.
“We are at the start of an economic transition, and we are not sure what it will lead to,” Henig reportedly said. “We have never seen this before. So, we don’t know what happens.”
On the American side of the Atlantic, organizations continue to work with the government to expand visa opportunities and recruit foreign-born truckers. Outfits such as Texas-based Visa Solutions have been busy diligently reaching out to qualified truckers in Mexico, Poland, South Africa, and the Philippines for more than a decade. This single outfit is reportedly responsible for adding more than 1,600 CDL professionals in 2019 alone. In February 2021, federal agencies reportedly began fast-tracking EB-3 work visas for people who could “perform jobs for which there are no skilled workers available in the United States.”
It appears the U.S. and U.K. are currently engaged in a global competition to onboard hard-working men and women to deliver goods and materials.
Sources: ft.com, nbcnews.com
I don’t understand why nobody seem to see that in the USA the Trump administratif pass a rule that required that all new CDL driver need to have green cards to be issued are in order to renew their CDL license and this meant that alot of experienced driver were not able to drive. A simple search with the DOT should be able to reveal how many driver have been taken off the road.
Experiencia en transporte de combustible
I got my license . However I think the government made the right choice. For not alluding truck drivers from another country drive without having their papers up to date. We all need to be responsible.