this haulage firm in northampton has never found recruitment so hard. in the past few months, we've increased salaries twice, by a significant amount, which we then need to pass on to our customers, where we can. so, this is all driving up costs, basically? absolutely, it is. next door, there is a business which trains up new drivers. steering quickly, driving as slow as you can. it's getting plenty of interest from locals. the testing system is set to change soon to make it simpler, but the manager here says that's not a quick fix for the shortage. the idea is that they remove the middle test, so that you can go from your fiat 500 straight into an articulated vehicle class one, cat ce. in actuality, you're probably going to find that the pass rate will drop. the course length will have to be longer. you're going to be delivering fewer tests. the government has so far resisted calls for temporary visas to plug the gap. it is now working on plans to introduce them. i would do what ever is required, if that would help. what i don't want to do, and i have been hinting at this, is undercut with, as has happened before,