10 February 1920

Skills and Labour Shortage in the Road Freight Transport Sector

Around the globe, logistics is an industry struggling to hire skilled workers. This World Bank study compares developed and emerging economies, and finds that in developing countries with a potentially available workforce there is often lack of vocational training for jobs in the logistics industry. The study thus puts the issue of truck driver training into a larger sector context. On ecodriving, the study acknowledges:

” There is also likely to be an environmental externality, as under-trained operators of freight vehicles drive less fuel-efficiently and hence are responsible for higher levels of exhaust emissions per kilometer travelled. In addition, they drive less safely and have a higher level of involvement in traffic accidents. Accident rates in warehouses and freight terminals are also higher where staff are not properly trained. The resulting social and health costs represent a further set of externalities.”

Specific to trucking, the report further includes a case study on the issue of truck driver shortage. In addition, the study describes what industry assocations and the public sector can do to address the skills shortage.

Name of the Document: Logistics Competencies, Skills, and Training – A Global Overview
Author: Alan McKinnon, Christoph Flöthmann, Kai Hoberg, and Christina Busch
Organisation: World Bank Group
Year: 2017
88 Pages | Language: English

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