Member Article

Mobile Mini Helps Send Simon’s Career Speeding Forward

An employee from the Wakefield depot of Mobile Mini, a leading hirer of portable accommodation and secure storage solutions, is blazing a trail in solving the Heavy Goods Vehicle driver shortage and driving his career forward, as one of the first employees to complete Mobile Mini’s new, fully-funded HGV Driver Development Programme.

With the need for additional drivers as a result of the expansion of their delivery truck fleet, rather than recruiting externally, Mobile Mini devised and implemented a bespoke training programme, open to existing employees across all 16 UK depots, stretching from Southampton to Glasgow.

Simon Wood, 35 from Wakefield, was previously a Yard Foreman before embarking on the programme, which consists of a number of different elements including: Medical, Theory and Hazard Perception, Driver Training, Driver CPC Training, HIAB Training, Driver induction and road and crane mentoring. The programme is delivered using a mix of external training providers and Mobile Mini’s own internal transport and safety staff.

The programme was rolled out in 2016, at a cost of £4,000 per employee, following a warning that the great British trucker is in danger of disappearing from the nation’s roads. The Road Haulage Association says that it is short of 60,000 drivers, with an ageing workforce shedding another 40,000 by next year. Mobile Mini and the UK economy both depend on HGV drivers to deliver goods across the country and the RHA has estimated that the UK needs an extra 150,000 drivers by 2020.

Simon commented: “It was something I’ve always wanted to do, so when the company rolled out the fully-funded HGV driver programme, I threw my heart and soul into my training and it felt great to embark on a new career path.

“You just can’t beat being out on the open road and what’s more, I get to go home to my family every night, which is not always the case for HGV drivers. Thanks to Mobile Mini, I’m a better driver and now have a job where each work day is completely different.”

Mobile Mini will also invest a further £3.7m this year in its fuel efficient Scania delivery truck fleet, as part of the company’s drive to constantly improve its operational efficiency, first class health and safety standards, and customer service. By the end of 2016, Mobile Mini will have a total fleet of 50 lorry mounted loader crane vehicles, one of the largest of its kind in the UK.“

The company has also successfully achieved a gold award for three consecutive years, for its fleet of HGV delivery vehicles in the 2015 Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme (FORS), an initiative operated by Transport for London. The voluntary accreditation scheme, which aims to drive up standards amongst commercial vehicle operators throughout the UK, requires fleet operators to demonstrate meaningful improvements in safety, environmental impact and efficiency in order to be awarded the gold level.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by East River PR .