The shortage of truck drivers across Europe is not recent news: the continent is experiencing a shortfall of 400,000 drivers in its most vital sector given that 75% of all inland freight is transported via trucks.^1,2 The situation in Western states is serious – in Germany, 80,000 drivers are missing, in the UK – 100,000, and in Poland – 120,000.³However, the situation is a tad bit better in Lithuania, in which approx. 9,200 driver jobs are unoccupied.  But measures are being taken to make jobs for truck drivers more attractive: this article will focus on the ways companies and the governments are working to leave fewer trucks empty by the end of 2022.

The current economic situation is decreasing the driver shortage itself

Unfortunately, high levels of inflation are preventing small and medium businesses from increasing wages, which would go a long way in attracting more workforce to our market. Most companies are predicting lower demand for road hauling and are thus already running a tighter ship than usual, as raising prices per-delivery too much could drive off customers. The new Mobility Package has also increased costs considerably for many hauling firms as cabotage became less rewarding and empty mileage became more frequent: in fact, the provision forcing truckers to return home after 8 weeks is the most likely to empty small enterprises’ coffers in 2022.⁵ Production costs induced by inflation, upcoming recession, and the Mobility Package mean that many freight forwarders, with the exception of industry giants, will be forced to downsize their operations to avoid closing down.⁶ The closing down of companies due to increased production costs is already visible in countries like Bulgaria. The Mobility Package has induced the costs so much that 120,000 drivers’ jobs are at risk.⁷ In short, layoffs are inevitable across Europe as markets contend with the beginnings of a recession that might go on for years; very few firms will be hiring if demand for transport stays consistently low, and the present massive shortage will be a thing of the past.

Making it easier to employ non-EU citizens

It’s important to note that state governments as well as the European Union are already taking measures that would make it easier to employ non-EU citizens. This is because Central Asian countries like Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, or South Asian ones like Bangladesh and the Philippines have an abundance of truck drivers.  Medium-sized companies could fill out their empty drivers’ seats very quickly by reaching out to these markets, but long waits and visa processing times used to complicate things. An update to the EU Single Permit Directive, the main gateway to receiving an EU work visa, is being worked on by the European Commission to shorten wait times and increase the flexibility of overseas workers.⁸ This, alongside the Long Term Residents Directive, will allow non-residents to move more freely within the Union, giving firms access to a more elastic, but lower-skilled workforce.⁹  

In addition, despite martial law preventing men between 18 and 60 from fleeing Ukraine, the EU’s decision to recognize Ukrainian drivers’ licenses encourages any men and women left in the Union to enroll in CE category courses, as they would enjoy much higher salaries in Romania or Poland than they would in Ukraine.^10,11 Simultaneously, it makes it easier for current Ukrainian truck drivers to become employed within the Union. Additional measures such as the “EU Talent Pool” also allow Ukrainians to find employment more easily and take language and qualification courses.¹² Given that the average truck driver’s monthly wage in Ukraine is 14,788 UAH (approx. 400 euros), working in countries that offer much higher wages creates an even bigger incentive to become employed.¹³ The same applies to drivers from EU countries whose wages are smaller. For example, the average monthly wage for a Bulgarian truck driver is 1,090 BGN (560 euros), while in other countries it’s much higher: in Germany, it’s 3,209 euros, in the Netherlands – 3,258 euros, in Lithuania – around 1,800-2,000 euros.^14,15 Therefore, if such drivers cannot find a job in their country, they can easily move to other countries that still have a driver shortage and work there for an even greater wage.

Improving working conditions in order to attract new drivers

Setting wages aside, the most difficult challenge for firms is making long-distance hauling attractive for the average worker. Therefore, governments and the European Union are doing their best to improve the working conditions. The EU area is currently lacking around 100,000 parking lots to reach a target of 400,000, thus, additional funding of 100 million euros was promised by the European Commission to build new parking places and improve the conditions of existing ones.¹⁶ Other measures are being taken by individual countries: truck drivers in Spain have negotiated a deal that forbids drivers from loading or unloading goods from their trucks, making the job less exhausting.¹⁷ On top of all this, the creation of projects like the Mobility Package allows to better protect drivers’ working conditions, ensure proper working hours as well as decent salaries. Provisions like these have become more and more widespread as governments and firms scramble to cope with the shortage. Because of this eventually, we can expect a shrinking of the driver shortage.
 

Sources:

1)https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/watch-what-does-truck-driver-shortage-europe-have-do-philippines
2)https://dhl-freight-connections.com/en/business/truck-driver-shortage-in-europe/
3)https://trans.info/en/every-fifth-truck-driver-position-in-europe-is-vacant-soon-there-could-be-twice-as-many-131212
4)https://trans.info/lt/vairuotoju-trukumas-272412
5)https://trans.info/en/report-finds-mobility-package-could-cost-carriers-up-to-e1-5m-in-extra-costs-per-company-255979
6)https://trans.info/en/mobility-package-272636
7)https://www.voanews.com/a/bulgaria-truckers-protest-proposed-eu-rules/4398768.html
8)https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/migration-and-asylum/legal-migration-and-integration/work/single-permit-work_en
9)https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/migration-and-asylum/legal-migration-and-integration/long-term-residents_en
10)https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ukraine-european-union-candidate_n_62b1fc19e4b06594c1dc2906
11)https://euroweeklynews.com/2022/06/14/europe-to-accept-ukraine-nationals-driving-licenses/
12)https://www.salaryexpert.com/salary/job/truck-driver/ukraine
13)https://trans.info/lt/salys-kuriose-vilkiku-vairuotojams-mokami-didziausi-atlyginimai-268871

Keywords: work for drivers, work for truck drivers, driver shortage, inflation, recession, transport sector