Writing on Facebook on Friday alongside photos from its training programme, Andersen Euro Handel (AEH) explained that its new drivers had arrived at its training centre.
The company, who has cooperated with Blue Water Shipping and started out operating in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland, is registered in the North-western Polish city of Koszalin.
Before wishing the new recruits good luck, the post underlined the fact that “All new drivers will undergo training in European road transport before starting to drive across Europe”. One of the images shows that some of the training is conducted using a simulator run on a laptop hooked up to a TV and sim racing gear.
The scheme is presumably a means for the company to meet its staffing needs amid the driver shortage. AEH have been approached for comment to provide more clarity on this, but are yet to respond.
New AEH driver has arrived at AEH headquarters to start there training.🔤 All new drivers will undergo training in European road transport before starting to drive across Europe.🚚. Good luck to your guys!!
Posted by AEH Trucking on Thursday, 26 May 2022
In the comments section under the post, AEH’s Facebook admin invited drivers from the Philippines, Kuwait, Qatar and India to submit their documents with a view to a future role at the company.
However, not all of AEH’s followers were impressed by the post. One Polish driver claimed that it would “be better for EU drivers” if companies such as AEH did not exist.
That prompted a stern response from the road transport company itself, who maintained that “all EU drivers are welcome to work”. The AEH Facebook page added “We have many and can use more”.
Given that AEH conducts transports in the Scandinavian region, as is stated on its website, the Polish driver stressed that he would want to be contracted according to the law of the country he currently resides in, Denmark.
Then, in a claim that will have a number of readers scratching their heads, the company claimed that HGV drivers in Spain earn 50% more than doctors:
“In an EU perspective, the driver earns much more than the minimum requirement is on all EU countries combined. As a driver, you can earn 50% more than a doctor in Spain. But still no young people want to be a driver.”
AEH are of course far from being the only company in the region to focus its recruitment efforts on drivers from the Middle East and Asia. Earlier this month, Lithuanian haulage firm Hoptrans revealed it has plans to recruit more HGV drivers from India and Malaysia.
Moreover, in November of last year, fellow-Lithuanian company company cargoGo said it expected to be hiring “dozens or even hundreds” of “highly experienced” drivers “from India and other Asian countries in the coming years”. In the same month, the RHA’s Rod McKenzie also wrote an article about the prospect of HGV Driver visas for Indians.
Finally, well-known Hungarian logistics company Waberer’s announced in March that it would hire 79 drivers and 3 fleet operators from India.
Photo: Frank Grießhammer / Flickr / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 (illustrative image)