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02nd Oct 2021

UK Government asks Germans with no HGV experience to drive lorries

Stephen Porzio

A German couple living in the UK have said they were “quite surprised” to receive the letter.

Thousands of Germans living in the UK have received a letter from the UK government asking them to consider driving lorries amid the national shortage of HGV drivers, despite the majority having no experience doing so.

The letter was sent to nearly one million people in the UK who hold a HGV driving licence, including firefighters and paramedics, as part of efforts to ease the impact the driver shortage is having on UK supply chains.

German residents in the UK received the letter as German driving licences issued before 1999 included an entitlement to drive a C1 vehicle, which is a small to medium-sized truck of up to 7.5 tonnes.

Foreign residents in the UK who exchanged their original licence for a UK licence receive the same entitlements they had on their previous one.

A UK Department of Transport spokesperson told JOE: “The letter was automatically sent to almost one million people with lorry licences – including a limited number of international residents who were automatically eligible. Anyone wishing to drive professionally faces further tests and training.

“Foreign residents in GB who have exchanged their licence for a GB licence will receive the same entitlements they had on their previous licence, this may include vocational entitlements.

“Emergency workers such as paramedics and firefighters will most likely have the same vocational entitlements on their licence and may have received the letter.”

It is believed almost all Germans residing in the UK who hold such a licence have received the letter though almost none of them have ever driven a HGV before.

The Department of Transport also said it does “not want” emergency workers to stop doing their vital work.

Signed by UK Transport Minister Baroness Vere, the letter reads: “The government and the logistics sectors are working on a range of solutions to ease the shortage.

“If you are no longer working in this sector, we would like to take this opportunity to ask you to consider returning.

“Your valuable skills and experience have never been more needed than they are now.”

Speaking to the Independent, one 41-year-old German man described his reaction to receiving two copies of the letter at his London home on Friday.

One was addressed to him and the other was for his wife.

He told the paper: “We were quite surprised… I’m sure pay and conditions for HGV drivers have improved, but ultimately I have decided to carry on in my role at an investment bank.

“My wife has never driven anything larger than a Volvo, so she is also intending to decline the exciting opportunity.

“It is nice to know there are specialist jobs available here for us though after Brexit. We would never have been headhunted to drive a lorry if we’d gone back to Germany.”

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