With school breaks just days away and annual-leave requests mounting, Specialist Driver Resourcing is urging builders’ merchants to secure holiday and sickness cover for their HGV drivers and lorry-mounted crane operators before the rush starts.
Every July and August, demand for bulk materials actually rises as site managers race to pour concrete, set foundations and close roofs while the weather cooperates. Yet, from mid-June onward, one in every four permanent yard drivers typically books time off, and unexpected absences – from from last-minute childcare issues to summer colds – can push that figure even higher. According to SDR, the result is a perfect storm: fewer qualified operators just when customers need next-day, timed or FORS-compliant deliveries.
“Merchants work incredibly hard to win business; the easiest way to lose it is a missed slot on a busy site,” said Simon Pritchard, Managing Director of Specialist Driver Resourcing. “A single delayed brick or timber load can stall an entire crew and trigger costly penalty clauses. Planning temporary cover now protects both revenue and reputation.”
The business maintains a national pool of fully qualified HGV and lorry-mounted crane operators who specialise in the builders’ merchant environment: navigating tight residential streets, off-loading safely with remote cranes and completing the site paperwork that main contractors demand. Because every driver is risk-assessed and yard-trained before deployment, clients can book cover for as little as one shift, or secure a rolling rota that dovetails with permanent staff leave calendars.
That flexibility was said to have proved critical in recent weeks for the two-vehicle branch of a national builders’ merchant when, with one driver already on holiday, the other driver was taken ill at short notice. Specialist Driver Resourcing supplied two fully vetted replacements within 24 hours, “enabling more than 80 scheduled drops to go ahead without a single customer complaint.”
Indeed, according to the merchant’s transport manager, SDR’s rapid response “saved an entire month’s turnover.”
Simon recommends building a two-tier plan: first, map holiday requests against weekly delivery volumes; second, reserve cover drivers early enough to guarantee availability. “We still have some capacity for July and August, but the diary fills fast once schools break up,” he added.
For more information, visit specialistdrivers.com
