3 million truck driving jobs sit unfilled in 36 countries: IRU
Canada is not alone in its struggles to fill truck driving jobs.
While Trucking HR Canada says there were almost 24,000 unfilled driving jobs here in the second quarter of 2023, an International Road Transport Union (IRU) study identified more than 3 million unfilled driving jobs across 36 other countries – about 7% of such positions. And IRU expects the unfilled jobs to double by 2028.
Only 12% of the existing drivers are younger than 25, and just 6% are women.
The IRU findings were based on a survey of 4,700 trucking companies in the Americas, Europe and Asia, between February and April.
“This has been an ongoing issue that the industry faces and something that becomes worse as [the] need for our industry grows,” Craig Faucette, chief program officer at Trucking HR Canada, told TruckNews.com.
Canadian employers struggle to find enough drivers, including youth and women, to keep up with retirements and the increased demand for trucking services, Faucette said.
The situation is similar in the U.S. and Europe, where an aging population affects the pool of available workers. It’s why IRU says access to qualified drivers in other countries should be facilitated, allowing countries with a surplus of professional drivers to help address gaps.
“The consequences of such a shortage are already harming the communities, supply chains and economies that depend on our industry,” said Umberto de Pretto, IRU secretary general.
“With the rate of newcomers being significantly lower than drivers retiring every year, urgent action is needed now.”
Competition for international drivers
Canada certainly relies on newcomers to fill driving roles.
“Our research also shows that the Canadian trucking industry attracts a larger share of immigrants and non-permanent residents than many other industries in Canada,” Faucette said.
“Recently, truck drivers have been added to Express Entry and included in category-based selection, which should make it much easier to bring truck drivers into Canada.”
Without stronger efforts to attract and retain a trucking workforce, more than 7 million jobs will be vacant worldwide in five years, IRU says.
Across the surveyed countries, China, Europe, and Turkey reported a respective 20%, 17%, and 28% of driving jobs were unfilled.
At least half of the surveyed operators said they are unable to expand their businesses and lose revenues along with existing customers, as costs for fuels, equipment, and salaries rise.
The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), for example, reports that the marginal costs of U.S. driver salaries grew by over 15% last year.
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Hi Krystyna-60 years in the industry covering most positions, proportionally in Canada the drivers are tired of low return on investment and time as majority today are owner operators with 1 to 4 units only. when unions were involved drivers received fair wages and medical benefits. shippers somehow control rates in the industry and owners have little to say regarding freight rates. Driver training is lacking unlike other trades that have a compulsory 4 to 5 year education,commercial accidents are happening every day with many lives lost due to limited skills. 5 years back 16 Canadian hockey students were killed in Saskatchewan and training upgrades are still minimal. look forward to your response – John Wihksen – Vancover
The world needs to be more open and more connected. It’s painful when you say there is a shortage of truck drivers in your country and back here in Kenya we as truck drivers are trying everyday looking for opportunities to come there and do those jobs.
The reason that young people in Canada are not interested in trucking jobs? Lousy hours, lousy pay, and absolutely no respect from the public or some employers! I’ve been a trucker for over 50 years and every year it gets worse. If I had a chance to do it all over again, I’d be a carpenter or electrician!
Many foreign workers including truck drivers that have come to Canada in the past 5 yrs are leaving with higher housing costs than the U S if their wife is a health care worker. Over 1000 truck drivers have left ont for the U S in the past year to Michigan State alone. We need a program to get the industry to pay for training of new truck drivers and a tiered wage . I see many disabled truck drivers that end up homeless in ont Canada with our support from the private insurance companies or the trucking companies they worked for. I and others are telling foreign workers to not come to Canada to work in transportation 8ndustries. We got push back even on the 10 paid sick days and are still getting push back on a plan to fight for medical for cross border truck drivers and that will reduce driver inc numbers.?