WARNING DRIVER SHORTAGE AHEAD
Whether it is getting children to school or delivering food to our supermarket shelves, business and politicians came to together at an event organised by IRU, to sound the alarm that Europe needs drivers – a lot – more drivers.
There is a chronic shortage of drivers, and it is affecting every sector of our economy. There are currently hundreds of thousands of unfilled positions across Europe. If this shortage isn’t addressed as a matter of urgency the consequences for the economy will be devastating.
With this in mind, IRU - the world road transport organisation - organised an evening of dialogue between European decision makers and a wide range of businesses providing transport services and those dependent on those services. The message was resounding and came from across Europe: action is needed and there is no time for delay.
“If we wait any longer the driver shortage will become a driver crisis and disrupt mobility and supply chains and the economy of the European Union,” said President of IRU Radu Dinescu. “Everyone has a duty to prevent this, but we need support.”
The IRU has surveyed its members and found three areas that need to be addressed to turn this situation around: remove barriers to entry, improve working conditions and automation. Each of these areas is complex, but the discussion revealed that there were concrete measures that could be taken.
The upcoming review of the European Driving Licence Directive presents an opportunity to streamline procedures and discuss lowering age limits.
The critical gap: 18 - 21
Speaker after speaker highlighted that there was no obvious reason why the minimum age for commercial drivers shouldn’t be set at 18 years across Europe. Aviation pilots can have a full licence at this age. Several speakers emphasised that this delay was causing potential young drivers to choose other more easily accessible professions after finishing school at 18. This will also help address the EU’s problem of youth unemployment.
“Under current rules bus drivers under 21 can’t drive further than 50 km (in a professional capacity) which is difficult in countries like Sweden,” said Anna Grönlund from the Swedish Bus and Coach Federation. She also presented a study indicating that there are no grounds for believing that younger drivers were more accident prone.
Electric vehicles
Companies have set ambitious targets to green their fleet, however electrically powered vehicles are heavier, meaning that someone holding a ‘B’ licence might be excluded from driving a smaller commercial vehicle because it exceeds the current weight limits, further limiting who can be recruited. Businesses are calling for derogations on weight for green vehicles. “If we wait any longer the driver shortage will become a driver crisis and disrupt supply chains and the economy of the European Union”
Automation and intelligent transport systems
Automation in vehicles offers a way to attract young people to the profession improving safety and the driver experience. The certificate of professional competence should incorporate these innovations in the training and development of future drivers.
Conditions and treatment
MEPs raised particular concern about the conditions that drivers faced. We have equally heard driver testimonials about the appalling treatment of drivers at loading and downloading points, without access to the most basic amenities.
Safe parking
The European Union has committed significant funds to the development of more safe and secure truck parking areas, but so far there has been little uptake. It was suggested that the current co-financing levels could be increased to incentivise national administrations and private investors to make use of the EU funds that are available. Business leaders present were still hopeful, but they emphasised that concerted and immediate action is urgently needed to avert a driver shortage crisis.