Who will deliver your next car? ECG debates the growing driver shortage crisis in the European Parliament as new cars pile up in Europe’s ports and consumers wait

Who will deliver your next car? ECG debates the growing driver shortage crisis in the European Parliament as new cars pile up in Europe’s ports and consumers wait

ECG — 2023-03-24

News from ECG

On the 21st of March ECG was back in the European Parliament in Brussels for a dinner debate on driver shortage, hosted by the Swedish MEP Peter Lundgren, himself a truck driver for 30 years. Executive Director Mike Sturgeon opened proceedings by predicting that, while new cars cannot be delivered today and enormous backlogs are building up, this global phenomenon will soon result in empty shelves in the supermarkets and a real social crisis. He warned “We have to take this seriously and address it now”. 

In addition to the host, attendees heard from a variety of speakers including transport operators, a transporter driver, Toyota Motor Europe, the International Road Transport Union (IRU) and the European Commission. While acknowledging that the recent proposal from the European Commission, to reduce and harmonise the age at which drivers may learn and be licenced, was a significant step forward, participants all agreed there is much, much more to do in order to avoid a meltdown in the European transport sector in the coming years. Even recently enacted laws such as the Mobility Package had created negative unintended consequences which are reducing efficiency and increasing the need for vehicles and drivers. 

Robert Braund of Toyota Motor Europe reported huge delays and enormous frustrations in the industry as their customers, who have already waited months for cars delayed by the semi-conductor shortages, now wait for their new vehicles to complete the last miles of their journey. 

Transporter driver Mathjis Schildermans working for Stobart Automotive Europe told of a demanding, and sometimes dangerous, job that he loves, but called for better facilities and, more than anything, respect for him and his fellow ‘kings of the road’. 

Raluca Marian, General Delegate of the International Road Transport Union (IRU), shocked the meeting with their latest predictions of millions of unfilled posts across the transport sector, not only in the EU but across the world. “Europe will be short of 2 million drivers by 2026”, said Marian, while acknowledging steps have been taken by the European Commission.  

This long-term, global problem has no quick solution. Instead, the participants concluded that many things need to change to attract and retain professional drivers in the transport industry: improved facilities, more parking areas and more respect amongst other things. Wolfgang Göbel, ECG President and operator of a 1,000-strong fleet of trucks, said “Treat drivers like you would treat customers. They are just as important”. 
 
ECG would like to thank all the attendees and speakers who joined the dinner debate. It was a great pleasure to see so many engaging in a lively debate on the driver shortage issue. The contributions to the discussion were extremely pertinent and we look forward to continuing the conversation on this salient matter.