Q+A How to tackle shortage of truck drivers

Q+A to Patrick Dixon, Keynote Speaker on Logistics and Supply Chain risks - about severe shortages of truck drivers in many nations. Why is this and how to tackle truck driver shortages. Impact on many sectors ranging from manufacturing to retail.

Why is this and how to tackle truck driver shortages.

Impact on many sectors ranging from manufacturing to retail.

In each nation the reasons for shortages of truck drivers are different.

Like most major trends in logistics and supply chain management, the issue has been obvious for a very long time.

For example, in nations like UK, Germany and Chile, the average age of truck drivers has been around 50 years or older.

Young people have not been attracted into road freight because of multiple factors.

Long hours. Many nights away from home, sleeping in a poorly equipped truck cab. Poor facilities for eating, washing, showering at truck stops. Low hourly rates of pay. Boom in other sectors offering better conditions or wages - including factories, hospitality sector, other service industries.

So reversing the trend will take a long time - there is no instant fix except offering much higher rates of pay to try and discourage further drivers from leaving and attract more drivers in.

Of course, other things need to be in place too. In the UK, a recruitment drive was so successful in late 2021 that the government ran out of capacity to test new drivers.

Patrick Dixon - Futurist keynote speaker at Seminarium Chile (Santiago) in 2022.

* "How AI Will Change Your Life - A Futurist's Guide to a Super-Smart World" - Patrick Dixon's latest book on AI is published in September 2024 by Profile Books.  It contains 38 chapters on the impact of AI across different industries, government and our wider world, including chapters on the future impact of AI on transport, logistics and supply chain management.