And this comes as the Australian Logistics Council projected the current 223 billion tonne kilometres<\/a> of road freight volumes will grow by around 56<\/a> per cent between 2018 and 2040.<\/p>\n NatRoad said less than 5.4 per cent of the current driver workforce were aged 25 years or younger, while 47 per cent were 55 years or older.<\/p>\n Mr Hannifey has been an active member of the industry on a number of issues including road safety.\u00a0 (ABC News: Jerry Rickard)<\/p>\n Road safety and transport advocate Rod Hannifey said the issue has been building for several years, as the industry has struggled to bring new drivers through to bolster its ranks.<\/p>\n “Drivers often came up through families \u2014 you’d take your kids with you, they’d fall in love with the trucks and eventually join the industry,” he said.<\/p>\n “That can’t happen now because of insurance and restrictions.<\/p>\n “Kids can’t come in the cab, so they never get exposed to it, and once they choose another job, we don’t get them back.”<\/p>\n Mr Hannifey also identified the fines and penalties truck drivers faced as a deterrent.<\/p>\n Mr Hannifey said truck drivers are being squeezed by strong penalties and undesirable work conditions.\u00a0 (ABC New England: Lara Webster)<\/p>\n “We understand the need to operate safely and legally, but the framework we work under is designed by people who don’t have to live by it,” he said.<\/p>\n “Penalties can be extreme, for things like driving 10 minutes longer than scheduled because you need a shower, toilet, or a decent meal.<\/p>\n “Drivers constantly worry about what they’ll get pinged for next.<\/p>\n “It scares people out of the industry.”<\/p>\n A growing problem<\/p>\n NatRoad chief executive Warren Clark said unless the current trajectory was changed, there would be a sizeable shortfall of drivers before 2030.<\/p>\n “With the growth in freight tasks and what’s required of transport, estimates suggest there will be more than 78,000 unfilled positions by 2029,” he said.<\/p>\n Mr Clark said the organisation is looking into the best way to bring younger drivers into the industry.\u00a0 (Supplied: NatRoad)<\/p>\n But, Mr Clark said the shortage had an impact beyond the driver’s cabin.<\/p>\n “Everything that appears on your table or in your house has, at some point, travelled on a truck.”<\/p>\n Mr Clark said resolving the issue would involve creating stronger career pathways.<\/p>\n “If you’re entering any industry, you need to know where you start, how you get trained, and what your progression looks like,” he said.<\/p>\n “Training needs to be consistent across the country, because we’re competing with industries that already have those systems in place.”<\/p>\n Almost 80 per cent of Australia’s freight is shifted through trucks according to aggregate data.\u00a0 (Supplied: Australia Post)<\/p>\n The other area of significant improvement was the recruitment of women, who make up only 6.4 per cent of drivers.<\/p>\n “We also need to address why women aren’t entering the industry, ” Mr Clark said.<\/p>\n “There aren’t enough facilities or rest stops \u2014 and that’s not just an issue for women, it affects all road users.<\/p>\n “What we need is strong leadership from the top, real commitment, and genuine action, and that has to come from the highest levels of government.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia’s transport industry is warning of a truck driver shortage crisis as its workforce shrinks. The national road…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388412,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,208235,44,208233,208232,208234],"class_list":["post-388411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-logistics-council","tag-news","tag-rod-hannifey","tag-truck-driver-shortage","tag-warren-clark"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=388411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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