here's your monthly roundup of driver news & useful info

Hello September!

Many of us have recently taken advantage of the Eat Out to Help Out scheme and filled our bellies whilst saving money courtesy of Rishi Sunak during the month of August. We've had our final Bank Holiday before Christmas (17 Fridays till Christmas 2020 – eek!) and the kids are preparing to return to school – for some this will be the first time in six months.

Driver Require is back to ‘business as usual’ – we have seen an uplift in business across the company and the shifts per week are increasing week on week.

We are busily recruiting across all the branches and the Refer-A-Friend scheme is still in full swing. As a professional HGV driver, we're sure you have many driver friends – some of whom could have been made redundant or are not happy in their current role – refer them to us and once they have completed their 12 x shifts* you are quids in with an extra £100 in your wage to say thank you for the introduction. Remember that there's no limit to how many drivers you can refer – the sky is the limit. Contact your branch or go to https://driverrequire.co.uk/drivers/refer-a-friend

Continue reading to see our piece on the easing of lockdown, information on the settled status scheme, healthy eating on the go and even a recipe for you budding cooks out there! See you in October and Thank You for your continuing support.

Our Tamworth branch has unanimously nominated Asif Ali as our August Driver of the Month.

Asif works on three of our biggest contracts in the Tamworth area and is indispensable to us. He is 100% reliable and flexible and will work any shift we ask him to, even if it means he has to cover the extra miles to get there. He also moves rest days at the drop of a hat to help out and never fails a shift. Our clients are delighted with his work ethic and positive “can-do” attitude.

Asif never complains about changes to shifts and always goes beyond the extra mile for us and our clients. Thank you Asif for all you do, you make our jobs just that little bit easier and are a real asset to our busy Tamworth branch.

In our recent Report on “The Impact of COVID-19 - A Roadmap for Recovery in the UK Haulage Sector”, released in early July, we made the bold statement that we expect there will no longer be an LGV driver shortage in the UK; at least not until we are fully out of the post-COVID-19 recession, which could be more than 3 years away. We now realise that the LGV driver shortage will remain unresolved and is likely to worsen, at least in the short term.

We believe that the combination of factors will cause demand to continue to exceed supply and that the current perceived LGV driver shortage will continue through to the end of 2020, getting more pronounced through the Christmas peak period.

Lockdown has been difficult for all of us, but especially for many of our drivers. There were some who continued as ‘normal’ going into work every day – albeit the roads were a lot quieter, which was one positive. However, there were others for whom work stopped abruptly and they found themselves with lots of spare time and less money coming into the household.

When we were in full lockdown the rules were clear but as we are easing out of lockdown and more and more places are opening, social distancing rules have been relaxed when required and where the changes are happening fairly quickly this has caused us to face some new challenges. Read the full article...

If you are an EU citizen, you and your family members need to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme to continue living in the UK.

The EU Settlement Scheme allows you and your family to get the immigration status you will need to continue to live, work and study in the UK. This status means that you continue to be eligible for :

public services, such as healthcare and schools
public funds and pensions
British citizenship, if you want to apply and meet the requirements

The EU Settlement Scheme is open and you have until 30th June 2021 to apply BUT please do not leave it till next year to get the ball rolling – as with any applications there is always a rush towards the end date. Get ahead of the crowd and get your applications in now!

This leaflet is informative: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/862459/EU_Settlement_Scheme_leaflet.pdf

Application guidance can also be found on GOV.UK and you can start your application at https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families

It is FREE to apply so please beware of any companies or individuals offering to help with you with your application for a fee.

Eating healthily whilst on the go with limited healthy options in motorway service stations, petrol garages and truck-stops is a daily challenge for our drivers with the added issue of some working unsociable hours....
Read our top tips and get some inspiration here...

At Driver Require we really want to wave the flag on healthy eating on the go and would love you to tag us in to any of your lunch pictures and add a hash tag or two to reach the driving community and inspire others. Let’s get us trending on Instagram: #driverhealthyeats #eatingonthgo #eatinghealthy #driversofinstagram and don’t forget to tag @driverrequire 😊

Next month we will be looking at meals at home and are asking that if any our fabulous drivers out there have any great recipes that we could feature in the next edition of The Extra Mile – please send to jenny.fisk@driverrequire.co.uk.

Here are a couple of recipe links to help you get started with your healthy lunches:

https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/for-your-body/eat-better/recipes/tasty-chicken-wraps-recipe/
https://www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/vegetarian/red-pepper-soup/

...and if you Google “Healthy Pasta Salads” there are tons to choose from!

Happy eating and look forward to seeing your tagged pictures.

Read the full article here...