SPECIAL WHITEPAPER The use of financial incentives
The use of financial rewards is, of course, a strategy to both invite new drivers and retain current drivers. It is probably the most realistic short-term solution. Some company bosses are even reportedly encouraging their own drivers to poach competitors’ employees at motorway service areas. As an incentive, there is an offer of a bonus and an exchange premium of €500. Some companies have also been known to offer shares to driver employees as an incentive to join, whilst others have offered flexible hours and extra holiday days to compensate for the long periods away from home.
has decided to make some €178 million of funding available to increase the number of secure parking areas across Europe but getting EU Member States onboard is essential to achieve tangible results. Matthias Maedge, the IRU’s General Delegate to the EU, says the Connecting Europe Facility, the EU funding mechanism for infrastructure projects, will finance 30% of the projects, so Member States will be expected to provide additional support, with investors needing to cover the remaining 70%. It is therefore necessary to act at the local, national and European levels to achieve a breakthrough.
Other initiatives in the UK include the ‘Road to Logistics’ programme, a national training programme designed to encourage people from different parts of society, who need help and integration into work, into the transport and logistics industry. The UK Government has also pledged £1 million to the programme to help prepare former criminals to become truck drivers. It comes after successful pilot schemes in several UK prisons. The scheme will mentor and guide potential drivers, linking them with employers and putting them through training and the HGV driving test. It has already trained 300 drivers in the first year.
Reducing the minimum age of professional truck drivers
A particular concern is the lack of younger people training to become HGV drivers. In Q2 2020, the proportion of people under the age of 24 driving HGVs fell by 57% compared to Q2 2019 in the UK. This is an issue the European market is familiar with as well. According to the IRU, only 11% of the workforce in Poland are younger than 25 years-old, while in Romania, the average age of drivers is 41 years old. The European average for drivers below 25 years- old sits at 7%.
To tackle the issue, the industry is calling on governments to reduce the minimum age of professional truck drivers to include younger
people. IRU has called on nations to agree on a global minimum age of 18 for professional truck drivers.
There is variety when it comes to age requirements around the world. In the Middle East and some European countries, the minimum age is already 18. In many other countries, the minimum age is 21 but can go up to 26 in countries such as China and Turkey. Even within the EU there are different age requirements and rules. Such restrictive minimum age rules are a serious obstacle to young people joining the profession at a time when youth unemployment exceeds 30% in some countries.
Attracting female truck drivers
Women account for 2-3% of drivers across Europe, according to the IRU. The IRU is acutely aware of the need to improve the attractiveness of the job, working with the European Commission as well as supporting its members to promote careers in the industry to women. For example, a German member of the IRU recently employed a female ambassador to help attract women into the transportation sector.
Attracting foreign drivers
Another way to alleviate the shortage is to employ non-resident drivers. Opening borders to employees from Eastern European countries has helped, but only temporarily and, as a result, operators have started looking for drivers from further and further East. In Poland, for example, there are agencies that offer employment of drivers from Asian countries such as Bangladesh, India, the Philippines and Vietnam. It can take around four-to-six months from the start of the recruitment process to arrival. Employing foreign drivers from Central Asian and Caucasus countries such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia and Armenia, however, only takes around one-to-three months.
According to a Ti survey of hauliers across Europe, around a third of hauliers (33.9%) offer regular increases in salaries to retain drivers, acknowledging the assumption that low pay is a major factor putting people off coming into the trucking industry. 29.5% stated that they offer bonuses.
A worsening situation
The driver shortage in Europe is set to get worse, despite the many strategies that are being implemented, which will all help to alleviate the issue to some degree.
Sadly, it will most likely take the threat of transport companies losing business to become the turning point in the improvement of working conditions of drivers and consequently in the increased attractiveness of the job.
About the Author
Violeta Keckarovska is one of Ti’s Senior Research Analysts and leads its Freight Research Team. She works with clients on both the shipper and carrier side of the market on key strategic issues and has authored a number of other reports, including digitalization in road freight and the effects of regulation on the market. Prior to joining Ti, Violeta worked across a number of sectors, including retail, luxury goods and FMCG.
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