School children are being encouraged to consider logistics as a possible career option, thanks to a new initiative from one of the UK’s biggest palletised freight networks.
Pall-Ex invited 33 youngsters from Ellistown Primary School to its central hub in Ellistown, Leicestershire, as part of the Road Haulage Association’s National ‘Love the Lorry Week’.
It is hoped the visit will inspire future generations to think about opportunities when they grow up, in a bid to combat driver shortages in the coming years.
As part of the visit, the children got hands-on with an HGV, met drivers to see what life is really like as part of the logistics and freight industry, and found out some important facts about road safety and pedestrian awareness.
Miss Gripton, class teacher said:
“We had a wonderful time at Pall-Ex, the staff were very welcoming and the children learnt lots about road safety, they particularly loved sitting in the lorry."
Mark Steel, director of sales and marketing at Pall-Ex, adds:
“It was fantastic to welcome local children along to our hub to explain what we do and how important the supply chain network is in every aspect of their lives – from delivering their school uniform to making sure supermarkets are stocked.”
This comes just months after Pall-Ex conducted a national study into driver shortages, which surveyed one hundred hauliers up and down the country, assessing what issues are perceived to affect the industry the most, and how businesses are tackling them.
According to the research, the future impact of driver shortages is even worrying the 40.6 per cent of hauliers that are not currently short of drivers.
The main perceived reasons for driver shortages are ageing population (37.5 per cent), followed by a negative perception of the industry (25 per cent) and competition from other sectors (15.6 per cent).
Mark continued: “Our research highlighted how the sector seriously needs to invest in attracting, recruiting and retaining young talent as the industry’s workforce retire or decide to change careers.
“Hopefully, the children got a sense from the visit that being a lorry driver is just one of the many important roles you can play in the logistics industry.”
‘Love the Lorry’ is the theme of National Lorry Week, an annual awareness campaign from the Road Haulage Association. Designed to demonstrate to the public the vital role that lorries and road transport of freight play in moving the economy and daily life, events are taking place across the country.