DRIVER CRISIS

A VALENCIAN road haulage federation says the region is short of 2,000 drivers which is causing serious problems with deliveries.

FVET president, Carlos Prades, has claimed the shortage is ‘paralysing operations’.

“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,” said Prades.

Problem

In the last two years, the problem has gone from affecting a third of regional transport companies to 52% according to FVET data.

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.

“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,” suggested Prades.

He 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’.