Who will be driving Poland's lorries in 15 years?

The transport industry is facing paralysis, as young people are giving lorry cabs a wide berth – drivers under 25 make up just 1.5% of the market!

Currently, nearly two-thirds of truckers are over 40, and the average age is already over 50. What's worse, veteran drivers are thinking about leaving en masse. As many as 55% of them are considering giving up the profession, and nearly 38% want to do so within a year.

Why is this happening? Drivers' biggest problems are:

💰 inadequate pay (68.2% of responses),
🛑 poor work-life balance (63%),
⛺ terrible social conditions at car parks (63%).

The effect? As many as 65% of experienced drivers wouldn't recommend this job to young people.

Hauliers are looking abroad for a solution – 55% of companies already employ staff from overseas. Unfortunately, recruitment is held back by bureaucracy. As many as 61% of employers struggle with residency legalisation procedures, while 32% of foreign workers complain about a lack of support, and 31% have experienced discrimination.

Despite the economic slowdown, 55% of companies still have vacancies (mostly missing 5-10% of their workforce). Large companies are suffering the most, while smaller ones (11-50 employees) are coping more steadily. The average time it takes to find a worker is stretching to more than two months. Companies are tempting recruits with modern fleets and parking-lot air conditioning, but 73% of them are unable to meet demands for higher pay.

🤔 Will money and better cab equipment alone be enough to attract the younger generation and save Polish transport? What needs to change?