Alex Trelinski
A VALENCIAN COMMUNITY road haulage federation says the region is short of 2,000 drivers which is causing serious problems with deliveries.
The FVET says the issue is ‘paralysing operations’ and estimates 1,000 extra workers are needed in Valencia province, with 600 in Alicante and 400 in Castellon.
FVET president, Carlos Prades, said: “This sector has faced, in recent years, the pandemic and the energy crisis and it seems that, now, in a period of economic uncertainty, another more serious crisis looms which is a lack of drivers.”
In the last two years, the problem has gone from affecting a third of regional transport companies to 52% according to FVET data.
“Companies are saying that the driver shortages are stopping operations,” said Prades.
A report from the International Road Federation says that young people are being put off from joining the profession because of the high cost of training- around €3,500.
Prades believes that a new generation of workers need to be attracted into the industry by making approaches to those looking for work.
“According to the Valencian Institute of Statistics, there are 51,600 people between 16 and 25 years who are unemployed in the Valencian Community, for whom transport can offer an answer,” he suggested.
Prades added that compared to other Spanish regions, the Valencian Community ‘has not taken any measures to promote the entry of young people to the profession’.
The Ministry of Transport says the Valencian Community is the third busiest region for transporting goods by road, behind Andalucia and Catalunya.
There are 10,801 Valencian companies in the transport sector and 50,277 drivers with valid permits.
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