XPO has recruited more than 1,000 truck drivers in the UK and Ireland in 2022, despite the ongoing industry shortage.
It claimed it was on track to onboard at least 20% more UK drivers this year than in 2021, after having “reviewed every salary, benchmark and additional bonus”.
The logistics business told The Grocer it hit the milestone this month after exploring “additional avenues” for recruitment, including “partnering with charities, different back-to-work groups and diversity pools”.
Driver boot camps and its apprenticeship scheme – which allows individuals who have an interest in becoming licensed HGV drivers to train with XPO while they work in other roles – had also helped leverage scale, it claimed.
The business said it would continue to invest in talent for information technology, distribution operations, administration, management, and sales and service roles.
XPO human resources director for UK&I Lynn Brown said it was “critical the business supported its drivers by understanding their needs”.
“We’ve also put extra work into examining our communications and benefits portal,” said Brown.
“We are also supporting our staff with Christmas bonuses and upskilling our staff by offering additional training and development.”
It comes after XPO secured a multi-year contract with Tesco in April to manage the supermarket’s chilled distribution to stores in the north west.
Under the agreement, XPO handles temperature-controlled transport using its own fleet and drivers, which journey from Tesco’s distribution centre in Widnes, Cheshire, to stores in the region.
“As part of our onboarding, we upskilled drivers to become trainers, which has supported the onboarding of new drivers and support offered to recruits as part of a buddying scheme,” said Brown.
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