Europe faces a shortage of 400,000 truckers and trucking companies find it difficult to recruit due to low wages and difficult working conditions.
The shortage was felt since before the pandemic but worsened with the post-pandemic economic reboundespecially in the UK where, combined with the effects of Brexit, it caused a fuel supply crisis.
But all countries are affected: Poland has a deficit of more than 120,000 truckers, Germany of about 60,000 and Spain of 15,000, according to a study by the British consultancy Transport Intelligence (TI).
“The reasons are multiple,” Violeta Keckarovska, who produced the TI study, told AFP.
Poland has a deficit of more than 120,000 truckers, Germany of about 60,000 and Spain of 15,000. AFP photo
Problems
“The driver population has aged, young people are not attracted to the trade, working conditions are not good, wages are low, “he explained.
In certain countries, the end of compulsory military service it deprived companies in the sector of already trained drivers.
In the large Solutrans logistics hall, which opened on Tuesday near Lyon, several training institutes they try to attract candidates putting them to drive a big truck in a simulator.
“It is a profession of enormous responsibilities” which has evolved a lot in recent years, highlighted Régis Garcia, from the Aftral training center.
“It is not necessarily simpler, but much less mechanical and physical, and with more electronic assistance,” and drivers travel shorter distances than before, “he added.
Technological innovation may also change the situation: the Dyn’Acces company succeeded at Solutrans with a telescopic platform that allows a driver in a wheelchair to sit behind the wheel of a large truck.
In France companies have a shortage of between 40,000 and 50,000 drivers, twice more than in 2017, lamented the National Federation of Road Transport, which has multiplied its communication efforts.
Incentives
In the Rhône-Alpes region, drivers are among the five most in-demand occupations. The French agency Pole Emploi is searching the area for 6,000 long-distance drivers and 3,000 short-distance drivers.
“We tell companies that they should reflect on their brand, on well-being at work, required bonuses, mentoring. Knowing how to recruit is also knowing how to take care of your wages“said Marina Verbaere-Grobel, from Pole Emploi.
The training of a truck driver costs between 4,500 and 7,000 euros. AFP photo
The search includes young people, salaried workers in reconversion and the unemployed. Women, who make up a tiny part of drivers, are also “highly sought after.”
Training costs between 4,500 and 7,000 euros ($ 5,400 to $ 8,400), sometimes paid for by the employer or by public aid. The apprenticeship has developed a lot, and the large truck license can be accessed from the age of 21.
Certain young people are attracted and seek the license. “You don’t have your boss by your side and I’d rather walk outside than in the city center, “said Pierre Nguembou, 29, a former Toulouse delivery man.
The future driver has the extra hours to improve his income.
A part of the solution is currently decided between the carriers and the unions.
In their negotiations, the representatives of the employees demand measures to improve the health and well-being of the truckers and a 10% revaluation of wages, which start with the minimum wage.
Employers’ organizations they were positioned in favor of an increase from 3.5% to 4.5%, according to the CFTC union. The CGT and CGT-FO unions withdrew from the negotiating table and could plan mobilizations before Christmas.
“The pyramid of ages is very, very strong in transport (…) We are going to have difficulties, as has been seen with Brexit”warned Thierry Douine of the CFTC.
“We ask for a balance between professional and private life. Nobody wants to work every weekend, every night, every vacation. We want rotations so that people have quality of life at work,” Douine told AFP.
AFP Agency
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