DRIVERS SHORTAGE * UK - HGV driver vacancies up 130% year-on-year

HGV driver vacancies hit a three-year high in October but the spike could also signal a large scale driver shortage

London,EN,UK -Road Transport, by Christopher Walton -18 November 2010:  --  According to Skills for Logistics (SfL), the number of unfilled jobs for HGV drivers rose by 130% to 25,720, compared to 11,041 in October 2009 and 8,787 in October 2008. Van driver vacancies also rose steeply, from 7,000 in October 2009 to 10,193...  Vacancies throughout the transport sector, from postal workers to transport and warehouse managers, are up 60% year-on-year from 54,460 in October 2009 to 87,422 in October 2010...  Mick Jackson, chief executive of SfL, welcomes the increase, because "reflect a build-up to the Christmas peak [and] the year-on-year increase for October looks like a heartening signal of growth in the economy," and urges operators to "carefully plan their driver requirements for 2011" and look at options for recruiting younger UK-based employees rather than return to recruiting from Eastern Europe as happened in the last shortage... ( Picture by Lewis Whyld/PA -Lorry drivers park on the A40 in west London )