NatRoad has released the results of the International Road Transport Union truck driver shortage survey that informed its eight-pillar National Road Freight Workforce Action Plan presented to government.
The survey has found Australia currently faces a national shortfall of 26,049 positions, with larger companies feeling the brunt of the shortage.
In the survey, responses have been placed into categories regarding company size. These splits are companies that contain 1-4 employees, 5-20 employees, 20-199 employees, and 200+ employees.
No company of over 200 employees reported zero or minor difficulties in filling driver positions, with 70 per cent of them stating they had severe of very severe difficulties.
Almost half said they faced very severe difficulties.
32 per cent of 1-4 employee companies cited no difficulty in filling driver positions, however they were far from immune from the problem, with 26 per cent citing very severe difficulties.
In total, 23 per cent of all companies surveyed said they had very severe difficulties, 26 per cent said severe difficulties, 30 per cent said moderate difficulties, eight per cent said minor difficulties and 13 per cent said no difficulty.
60 per cent of 200+ company answers believe the problem is only going to get worse in 2025. Out of the four categories, only companies sized 20-199 employees did not expect it the problem to get worse, with 62 per cent of those surveyed believing difficulty securing drivers would remain the same.
Overall, 38 per cent of all surveyed believe the problem will get worse, 51 per cent believe it will remain the same, while 11 per cent believe it will improve.
Crucially, across all companies surveyed a weighted average of 13 per cent of driving positions remained unfulfilled, with 17 per cent of companies sized 1-4 employees saying they had unfilled positions.
The average age of drivers was found to be 49 years old, while 47 per cent of the driving workforce was aged above 55.
10 per cent of the workforce is made up of foreigners, while 5.2 per cent are drivers under the age of 25. 6.5 per cent of drivers are women.
The eight pillars on which NatRoad has produced its action plan from these survey results are:
- The creation of a national truck driver standard
- Implementing a national truck driver apprenticeship
- The creation of a national heavy vehicle skills hub
- Introducing training incentives
- Reform licensing and training
- The delivery of key actions in the ISA Workforce Plan
- Recognising driver skill levels
- Addressing other road freight industry skills shortages
Read more ATN:
Finding your way to transport and logistics
South Australia emerging as international sustainable fuel hub
Freight facilities key part of new Bundaberg transport strategy