If you advertise a truck driving role now, you are unlikely to receive the numbers of responses you would have in previous years.
That’s because that driver pool no longer exists.
The Sector Workforce Engagement Programme (SWEP) has been working on developing pathways into the road freight industry for the past year in an effort to tackle the problem.
To maintain our current level of productivity in New Zealand, we need 2800 new drivers every year for the next 10 years.
The reality is we have attracted just 1800 new drivers consistently for the past three years.
The freight task is increasing with the Government predicting a rise in freight, adding another 50 million tonnes by year 2022. Trucks are likely to carry 90% of it.
While higher productivity motor vehicles are now commonplace on New Zealand roads, we are unlikely to see the freight gains of the past as we have reached a ceiling on weights due to infrastructure and equipment limits.
It is evident in most trucking companies throughout the country that the driver age group is getting older, with the largest in the 53 to 57 age bracket. Our fourth largest cohort is over retirement age.
Our industry is not alone in this but we must be mindful of what other aggravating factors are apparent, such as the reasons for leaving a job and never returning to employment. They fall into two categories:
Leaving due to retirement: About a third of over-65s are still in employment and predictions are this will likely remain, with the banking sector forecasting a third of all over-65s will still have a mortgage in the future. Retirement is still the number one reason for leaving employment forever. Therefore, companies need to plan for the exit of their retiring workforce members, which could mean a steady reduction in hours or days worked prior to ceasing work.
Sickness and injury: This is of serious concern and a top reason for leaving employment, particularly for those in the 53 to 57 age group. That means our largest group of drivers is also our most vulnerable.
Companies need to consider what light duty work they can provide to keep an employee in contact with their workplace, and include preventative injury measures and monitor and assist employees. It could mean offering health insurance, allowing access to medical services faster which is a benefit to both employee and company.
Driver licensing with youth is another concern – less than 34% of the under-25s hold a full car licence. That frustrates our pipeline of new drivers as many in our target age group have not yet qualified for even the basic requirements of a class 2 licence.
Countries such as the United States and Canada are experiencing identical issues.
When you consider all of this is happening with near-record low unemployment figures, it further reduces the likely pool of people we can draw from to entice into our industry.
SWEP has been busy working to identify what we can do and has come up with four key areas.
Schools and student engagement: Companies need to link with their local high schools and take opportunities to promote their own businesses to years 11 to 13. It could mean providing opportunities to students to take part in work experience and summer jobs now exams have finished, or sponsoring local sports teams. Seek out and talk to the careers teachers in your area because there are thousands of students who won’t take an academic pathway after finishing school. Can you provide opportunities to learn in your business?
Increasing polytechnic coverage: Of the 16 institutes of technology around the country, only five offer commercial road transport courses. SWEP has been working with NorthTec, Toi Ohomai, Eastern Institute and Whitireia as they develop their new courses. These will work with industry input by giving students practical driving experience while learning. It might mean a student works in your business for one or two days a week. The Southern Institute of Technology operates its course from a transport operator’s yard and employs company driver trainers to teach the students. This approach will produce a driver with the necessary skills you seek. SWEP is also working with Manukau Institute of Technology to develop a new course for the Auckland area. It’s likely to launch early in 2018.
Industry training: SWEP is working with industry training group MITO to develop its suite of qualifications. The idea is to have a pathway of qualifications supported by training that can be delivered in your business to recruit and train new drivers. The value of a qualification has never been recognised by our industry and it’s a fundamental reason why driving is widely viewed as unskilled. We know this is not the case but to change the perception requires our industry to recognise qualifications and experience are mutually beneficial.
Driver licensing and youth: SWEP has highlighted this consistently and while not in our immediate control, policy is likely to be developed to help young people get their driver’s licences in schools. That will have a positive effect on our ability to identify and train new drivers in our industry.
Recent SWEP work with non-academic students identified they wanted to earn money and gain stable employment when they left school but were unlikely to pay for training themselves.
But if an employer offered them paid training they would accept it.
The SWEP team is looking for opportunities to link employers with students and training providers. Contact steve.divers@truckingcareers.nz if you would like to become involved.
