As an active entity in the transport market within the light transport sector, we constantly monitor the situation in the global economy. When estimating the risks and challenges facing the economy, it’s impossible not to write about staff shortages among professional drivers. New research published by Geotab confirms our concerns, and the European Union is introducing solutions to counteract them.
In a recent article, we identified a number of factors contributing to the professional driver employment crisis, such as: high responsibility, declining attractiveness of the profession, and increasing legal requirements. However, we considered the demographic factor to be the biggest challenge, which, according to last year’s reports, will cause an employment gap in Poland of between 150,000 and as many as 500,000 empty vacancies within five years.
Today, we confront these analyses with reports focusing on the problem on a European scale – it should be remembered that the Polish transport industry is a leader on the Old Continent, so the problems mentioned in these reports also affect us. The direct cause for these considerations is the Geotab publication “The unseen toll: driver stress and road safety,“ which is one of the factors considered by the European Union in taking steps to counteract the crisis of driver shortages in international transport.
The most important cause of driver shortage – the silent killer: stress
According to the cited report, one of the key factors contributing to staff shortages is the high level of stress and work inefficiency, which lead to high staff turnover. Among professional drivers surveyed, as many as 91% of respondents consider stress to be a key factor affecting their effectiveness behind the wheel, 70% consider it a factor significantly reducing work safety, and almost half (as many as 47%) plan to change their professional career path.
The report clearly indicates that stress among drivers is an omnipresent and inherent element of this profession. The constant time pressure, unpredictable road conditions, and increasing customer expectations regarding the speed and precision of deliveries generate a chronic and high level of stress.
Moreover, 95% of respondents from EU countries and the UK also indicate that the level of road safety has decreased over the past five years, which is also a major stress factor for drivers. Among the most important conditions reducing safety in international transport, drivers point to the use of mobile devices while driving, the low skills of other drivers, and the increased participation of scooters and electric bicycles in road traffic.
The European Union introduces legislative changes to counteract the crisis
Each year brings new legislative changes dictated to the transport industry by the European Union. At the beginning of the year, we wrote about the most important changes that are to come into force during 2025, while community decision-makers are constantly reacting to market changes. Some of the implemented regulations are strongly criticized by transport companies for increasing operational costs, but it should also be emphasized that the EU is also actively trying to counteract the described crisis of professional driver shortages.
In response to the demands of the transport industry regarding these shortages, decision-makers in Brussels decided to introduce a number of significant changes. The new legislation aims to remove some barriers for young drivers who want to start their career in international transport. The introduced changes are intended to rejuvenate the workforce (counteracting negative demographics in the profession) and facilitate access to the profession, while ensuring a high level of safety (reducing stress associated with driving). These are primarily:
- Lower age for truck drivers: Persons holding a Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) will be able to drive trucks in national and international traffic from the age of 18, which opens up new opportunities for transport companies.
- Supervised driving programs: Member States will be able to introduce mandatory supervised driving programs for category B from the age of 17, and voluntarily for categories C, C1, and C1E.
- Digital driving license: A standardized digital driving license will be introduced by the end of 2030 as part of the European Digital Identity Wallet.
- Alternative fuel vehicles: Holders of a category B driving license will be able to drive vehicles (passenger and delivery vans) powered by alternative fuels with a mass of up to 4.25 tons.
- Recognition of foreign driving licenses: An EU system for recognizing driving licenses from third countries will be created, which will increase the pool of potential professional drivers without the need for re-examination or special codes.
Summary
The upcoming legislative changes implemented by the European Union are only part of the solutions needed to combat the crisis of professional driver shortages in international transport. A big step towards resolving this problem would be a significant opening to drivers from outside the EU. All these legal adjustments must, of course, align with changes introduced by companies in the industry to truly combat the challenge we face.
Only comprehensive actions, from technological support to opening the labor market for younger and, above all, non-EU drivers, are the foundation for ensuring stability and further development of European transport. The synergy of all these elements will allow the current problem to be transformed into an opportunity to build a more effective, safer, and attractive logistics sector for the benefit of every manufacturing and transport company.
