While drivers from Eastern countries have for a while compensated for the shortage of drivers experienced in Western countries, the crisis of vocations is also raging today in these countries. It is the consequence of several factors: war in Ukraine, mass retirements, etc.
According to a study by the International Road Transport Union (IRU), fewer and fewer Eastern Europeans are willing to get behind the wheel of a heavy goods vehicle, even if wages rise.
For some countries such as Germany, the leading European market for road freight transport, the situation has serious consequences, as only half of the trucks driving in the country have German registrations.
For decades, the country was able to ignore the decline in national vocations, since thousands of truckers and hauliers from Eastern Europe filled this deficit. But these countries are in turn hit by a crisis of vocations, underlines the IRU study.
Consequences of the war in Ukraine in Poland
Poland alone, which employs 640 drivers, has a deficit of 000 truckers. In the past, Polish companies tried to fill this gap by using Ukrainians, who left the profession en masse with the war in their country.
"The war in Ukraine “It has repercussions, because the number of Ukrainian drivers working for European Union (EU) companies was considerable, especially in the Member States bordering Ukraine,” explains Raluca Marian, head of the IRU representation in Brussels. After the war, a large part of them initially returned to their countries. Some have come back, but there are no reliable figures on this.
The recruitment problems of Polish hauliers have serious consequences for the industry and large-scale distribution across the Rhine: Poland, with 22% of registrations recorded at toll points in Germany, is by far the leading foreign country to send its hauliers and vehicles onto the country's motorways.
Lithuania will be the most affected
In Lithuania, which provides 77 drivers, the deficit was estimated at 000 positions in 10, double that in 000. And the situation is expected to deteriorate rapidly, as 2021% of drivers are over 2022 and approaching retirement age.
“Lithuania will be the country most affected by the driver shortage in the coming years among the European countries we are studying,” insists the IRU.
The Girteka group, which employs 18 truckers, is looking for 000 truckers per week alone… Girteka claims to have lost 150 drivers with the invasion of Ukraine. Recruitment is taking place in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, the Middle East and even Asia.
Romania recruits little outside its borders
Romania, which has 250 drivers, has seen the deficit increase from 000 truckers in 50 to 000 last year according to the Romanian transport association UNTRR, which is asking Bucharest to lower the legal age for driving a truck to 2021, compared to 70 today.
Unlike Poland or Lithuania, Romania, where wages are among the lowest in Europe, very rarely recruits outside its borders. Here again, Germany is suffering the consequences of this shortage, while 4% of trucks driving on German roads are registered in Romania.
NATHALIE VERSIEUX
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