The European road transport sector is facing a 13 point increase in driver shortage in 2020, according to research from the IRU.
IRU, the world’s road transport organisation, carried out research amongst small and medium transport and logistics companies in a number of European countries, calculating the commercial freight driver shortage on the continent to rise from 23 percent in 2019 to 36 percent in 2020.
According to IRU’s report, Poland and Romania are two of the most heavily impacted European countries. In Poland, driver shortage stands at 22 percent and is expected to increase by 15 points this year.
In Romania, the IRU says the situation is even more critical with the 50 percent driver shortage recorded in 2019 expected to reach 62 percent this year.
In a bid to tackle the problem the IRU has secured €60 million worth of EU funding for the development of Safe & Secure Truck Parking Areas (SSTPAs) , set up the Women in Transport Talks initiative to encourage more women into the profession and formed a number of partnerships, including with ILO (International Labour Authority) and ETF (European Transport Workers Federation).
“While we have secured successes and set important ground work, more actions, including public-private cooperation, are needed urgently, to ensure our industry continues to strive and to deliver, as the lifeblood of the global economy,” said IRU Secretary General Umberto de Pretto.
