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According to a new IRU survey.
IRU’s annual driver shortage survey shows unfilled commercial driver positions continue to increase at alarming rates across the globe.
Surveying more than 1,500 commercial road transport operators in 25 countries in the Americas, Asia and Europe, IRU found that truck driver shortages increased in all regions in 2021 except Eurasia.
In Europe, they jumped by 42% from 2020 to 2021, with open unfilled driver positions reaching 71,000 in Romania, 80,000 in both Poland and Germany, and 100,000 in the UK. In Mexico shortages increased by 30% to reach 54,000; in China by 140% to reach 1.8 million. Higher driver wages in 2021, especially in Europe and the US, have not led to fewer shortages.
IRU Secretary General Umberto de Pretto said, “Chronic commercial driver shortages are getting worse, with millions of positions remaining unfilled. This is putting already stressed economies and communities at higher risk of inflation, social mobility issues and supply chain meltdown.”
Looking ahead to 2022, while firms in Argentina and China forecast slight improvements, operators in most regions expect truck driver shortages to keep increasing: Turkey by 15%, Mexico by 32%, and Eurasia and Europe by 40%.
In passenger transport, 7% of bus and coach driver positions were unfilled in 2021 in Europe. Operators expect this to reach 8% in 2022 in the countries surveyed. Read more
Source: IRU
