Truck drivers are some of the most contented members of the workforce and aren't concerned with issues such as career progression, according to Dutch recruitment specialist Willem de Vries. De Vries, who runs Dutch recruitment firm Randstad, made his comments at last week's Truck Europe Forum in Berlin where solutions to the Europe-wide driver shortage were discussed.
He says the industry should not be overly concerned
with attempting to structure career advancement for drivers. He adds: "Drivers are some of the happiest working people in the Netherlands. They love their job and that's one thing we should always keep in mind. "They see their job as giving them freedom - it doesn't matter how many things you build into a truck to control them, they still have a perception of freedom.
For drivers, even those just doing 9 until 6, it's the job they always wanted." However he warns against becoming too reliant on overseas drivers to plug gaps in the workforce: "If you import the solution then the problem ends for a little while, until [those foreign drivers] go home again." Randstad employs around 2% of all Dutch HGV drivers.
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