Plan to get ex-servicemen truck driving
Telematics provider Microlise has joined forces with charity Care After Combat and the Road Haulage Association (RHA) to set up Road to Logistics: a pathway by which vulnerable former service personnel can be trained and mentored into jobs as truck drivers.
Launching Road to Logistics at the Microlise Transport Conference in Coventry, RHA chief executive Richard Burnett said: “Those who have served us in the forces deserve our help if things don’t work out when they leave. The charity Care After Combat, championed by comedian Jim Davidson, helps a significant number of ex-service personnel who end up homeless, have health issues or fall foul of the law.
“The RHA, together with telematics experts Microlise, can help Care After Combat give these vulnerable heroes a career by setting them up with a job as a truck driver. This new initiative, Road to Logistics, will help address the chronic shortage of truck drivers in the UK currently estimated to be 45,000.”
He continued: “This industry needs drivers and Care After Combat has an excellent source for potential drivers. Microlise will create the training academies, and we, through our membership, have the jobs. By working together, we can make sure that Road to Logistics helps three organisations achieve their goals.”
Road to Logistics will create and maintain a national training programme, which the RHA says will: “encourage new talent into the transport and logistics industry from sections of society where individuals need help and support to regain their self-confidence and independence.”
Candidates will be assessed for suitability prior to the training, including a thorough medical examination. Those who pass will be expected to sign up to a strict code of conduct covering all aspects of their behaviour and professionalism, to ensure prospective employers’ confidence in the process.
Richard Burnett added: “Such is our confidence in the Road to Logistics programme that we will be taking the results to Westminster to gain a permanent funding stream for further entrants into the academies.”
