With the legal age for driving LGVs having been lowered from twenty-one to eighteen in recent years, there are more and more young people out on the road doing delivery work. We look at three reasons why the younger these drivers get themselves on the road, the better!

Beat the Boy Racer Out of Them

For many young drivers, the idea of being behind the wheel is just a little too much, leaving them over-excited and under-cautious, and resulting in the archetypal “boy racer.” Boy racers tend to drive too fast, and without enough respect for their fellow road users and, though they may calm down once the novelty wears off, it may be too late to avoid that inevitable and probably very expensive first prang. Now that youngsters can undertake delivery work at the age of eighteen, there is a perfect opportunity to beat the boy racer out of them. Having been put in control of a larger and heavier vehicle than they would ordinarily drive, they will be unable to drive in the boy racer style that they might have done were they to be in a smaller and lighter vehicle – such as a souped up hatchback. As such, good driving technique and etiquette will be instilled in them from a very early age leaving them with both a successful career in delivery work, and most likely a cheaper insurance premium in the future.

Lead Them Out of the Recession

With the economic situation the way it is, there are many young people leaving school and entering into the deep dark world of recession. Plenty of these people might well have been perfectly suited to a career in delivery work, but simply too young to find work. The lowering of the age at which they can start will mean that more of these young people can avoid the effects of the recession, or at least recover from it more quickly, as they will have another option available to them that has previously been closed until they reached twenty-one. Being able to start delivery work at a younger age has left another avenue open to school-leavers, helping to lead them out of the recession.

Safeguarding the Future

The cycle of recruitment and employment is an inevitable one in any trade, and the haulage industry is no exception. However, it is an industry which has at times faced skills shortages due to the fact that many drivers continue with delivery work for some time after they reach retirement age. This has in the past, limited the number of jobs available and put younger people off entering the industry. By lowering the age at which people can start and encouraging people into delivery work, the gap between the driving generations will be bridged to a certain degree, hopefully preventing any skills shortages in the future.

So, though the idea of your child driving even a small car might be a slightly sobering thought for you, there is a lot to be said for getting them out of the car and into something larger as quickly as possible! There are plenty of reasons to start them on delivery work at a young age.

Norman Dulwich is a Correspondent for Haulage Exchange, the leading online trade network for the road transport industry across the UK and Europe. It provides services for haulage companies to buy and sell delivery work, road transport and returnloads in the domestic and international markets.