The global shortage of professional drivers continues to intensify and is now firmly recognised as a structural challenge rather than a temporary market fluctuation. This was the clear message from IRU’s newly released 2025 Global Driver Shortage Report: across 18 markets, approximately 2.9 million truck driver positions remain unfilled — equivalent to 11 % of the workforce.
In Europe the drivers’ shortage rate stands at 13 %, representing around 502 000 vacant positions. Two-thirds of European operators report turning down new contracts because they cannot find enough drivers, and 65 % rank the driver shortage as their single most pressing concern — four times higher than any other issue. The shortage hits smaller companies particularly hard: operators with fewer than 50 employees report shortage rates six percentage points higher than larger firms. This is especially significant in Europe, where companies with fewer than ten employees account for 98 % of road freight enterprises and 79 % of the workforce.
Demographic countdown: 660,500 EU truck drivers expected to retire by 2030
Pressure on the sector is intensifying due to an ageing workforce. In Europe, approximately 20 % of current drivers are expected to retire within five years, equating to an estimated 660 500 drivers leaving the labour market by 2030. Globally, 2.86 million truck drivers are projected to leave by the same date.
Combined with the existing vacancies, Europe faces the dual challenge of replacing those who retire while simultaneously filling the positions that are already empty — against a backdrop of a very thin pipeline of young drivers. Europe already stands out as the most foreign-driver-dependent market among those surveyed, with around 31 % of its truck driver workforce consisting of foreign nationals.
Women and younger generations remain underrepresented
Women account for barely 4 % of European truck drivers, even though they tend to enter the profession at a younger age than men. Australia records the highest women drivers’ share among the surveyed markets at 9 %, yet this remains far below the potential of the wider labour market. In every market examined, trucking sits significantly below the broader transport-sector benchmark.
Improving facilities and providing safe parking locations benefits the entire workforce and is a prerequisite for attracting more women. Coordinated initiatives — such as industry-funded training covering licence costs in the Netherlands and the UND Women Truck Driver Academy in Türkiye — have already demonstrated that female participation can be increased when barriers are systematically addressed.
The “wage wall” and the rising importance of secure parking and drivers’ wellbeing
According to IRU, transport companies are increasingly running into a “wage wall”. Although wages remain important, higher salaries alone are no longer sufficient to attract or retain drivers. Particularly in long-distance transport, other factors now carry more weight: sufficient time at home, predictable working hours, secure parking spaces, comfortable cabins, and a better work-life balance.
Safety concerns at rest stops and parking areas, together with poor or missing facilities, were identified as major challenges. Drivers — and especially women — often do not feel safe at many stops. Upgrading rest areas is explicitly cited as one of the concrete positive levers that can improve both safety and the overall attractiveness of the profession.
As Europe faces the simultaneous challenges of 502 000 current vacancies and more than 660 000 drivers set to retire by 2030, increasing profession attractiveness highlights that the investment in secure parking infrastructure and driver wellbeing is both a social necessity and a business imperative for supply-chain reliability.
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