Two trucks

A county-wide recruitment event in Leicestershire, aimed at appealing to the public to become HGV drivers, takes place next week.

‘Blaby District Let’s Talk Logistics’ will showcase the benefits of the supply chain industry at the Fosse Park Shopping Centre on Tuesday 12 October.

Supported by local logistics firm Translink Express Logistics, as well as the Department for Work and Pensions, Blaby District Council, Aggregates Industries and Samworth Brothers Distribution, the campaign aims to encourage a wider selection of the public to come forward and opt for a job in logistics.

It also wants to increase the diversity of the existing candidate pool.

Chris Hobbis, commercial director at Pallet-Track member Translink Express, said: “We desperately need to encourage younger people of all backgrounds to come forward and look at the career development that exists within a dynamic sector that keeps the UK’s wheels turning.”

Translink said it would pay the £2,500 training fee for each successful candidate, as well as their wages: “There’s no upper limit to what we’re pledging here – we’re committed to investing whatever it takes to solve this problem,” Hobbis added.

The launch of Translink’s training project comes shortly after Pallet-Track chief executive Caroline Green called on its shareholder members to write to their MPs to raise the issue of the driver shortage.

Green said: “I’ve always said that collective action is the way to tackle this crisis – it is too big for one company to solve alone.

“This wider campaign and the issues that we have all seen in the headlines highlight the symbiotic relationship the sector has with everyday life that can only be solved through collaboration and bringing such a critical issue to the public attention.”

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