Caroline Seear of Red Recruit explains how companies can build steady driver and porter pipelines – without paying “silly money”.

If you’ve run a removals business in recent years, you’ll know it has been lively, well beyond staffing. The “shortage of staff” headlines may have faded, but great drivers and porters are still hard to find, and demand for drivers continues to increase. We speak daily with operators and candidates, so here’s a practical round-up of what’s working now - a crib sheet of usable ideas to try.

Start with the diary, not the vacancy
Before posting a job, pinpoint where the real pressure is. Which days regularly run into the evening? Which postcodes add time? When do you need a third pair of hands? A single-page view of peaks, storage volumes and corporate work helps define the size of the core team and where a small, trusted temp bench can absorb spikes.

A simple tweak that helps: sell storage slightly earlier in the booking conversation. It creates a buffer in busy weeks and keeps customers calmer.

Make the role easy to picture

• Provide the practical detail candidates actually care about: start windows, travel patterns, equipment, licence steps (C1/HGV), weekend rotas and overtime rules.
• Show a clear progression path - porter → driver → team lead → assistant manager. People join when they see a future.

Make the job feel good (without spending a fortune)

• Be clear about what success looks like in the first 90 days.
• Predictable rotas beat mystery shifts - publish six weeks at a time with fair swap rules.
• Good kit and tidy vans improve morale.
• Pay clarity matters: clear hourly rates, overtime triggers, weekend premiums and travel-time rules.

Where people are actually coming from

• Referrals: a modest bonus paid quickly works better than large advertising budgets.
• Returners: keep a warm list of good leavers - improved rotas often bring them back.
• Ex-forces and local sports clubs provide teamwork and fitness.
• Community channels such as gyms, builders’ merchants, barber shops and Facebook groups are low-cost, high-trust sources.
• Apprentices and school-leavers: start as porters and offer a mapped C1 pathway.
• A temp bench: two or three regulars who know your standards; convert the best.
  
  

The 90-day lift-off

• Week 1: safety, customer etiquette, photo evidence, equipment checks.
• Weeks 2–4: buddy on tricky jobs and practise access planning.
• Weeks 5–8: lead small jobs and use claims-prevention checklists.
• Weeks 9–12: discuss C1/HGV routes and build leadership behaviours.

Pay fairly - without paying silly money

• Use simple pay bands tied to skill and behaviour: entry porter, skilled porter, driver, team lead.
• Retention beats sign-on offers - small bonuses at 12 weeks and nine months work best.
• Target the hard parts: weekend premiums instead of blanket pay rises.
• Price confidently: list what’s included and surcharge rules. Customers accept clarity.
  
  

Rota wins we see repeatedly

• Early/late shift patterns protect the first-call window and difficult late unloads.
• Cluster jobs geographically and confirm parking and access at booking — overruns fall, and so do temp costs.
• Add slight padding to load/unload times to avoid overtime spikes.
• Publish weekend rotas early and allow swaps - surprises drive attrition.

Clip-and-keep checklist

• One-page role brief.
• Six-week rota and swap rules.
• Referral bonus running.
• Two trusted temps.
• 90-day lift-off plan.
• C1/HGV pathway documented.
• Pricing template updated.

Final word
Shortages forced everyone to innovate. The winners in 2025 aren’t in bidding wars - they’ve made the basics easy and repeatable. Map the diary, make the job feel good, keep the rota predictable and grow your own talent.

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