A regional labour market survey in South Canterbury is finding that licensing constraints are restricting transport businesses employing school leavers and tertiary graduates.
Stuff is reporting that a lack of trained younger drivers adequately licensed to drive heavy vehicles is threatening the region’s transportation industry, and it’s clientele.
South Canterbury is identified as having one of the biggest demands for transport nationwide, and yet in the surveyed companies, the average age for class five licensed drivers is 57.
One company says it has two smaller trucks for younger drivers to use while they are completing the mandatory six months waiting period between each achieved license classification.
One company director told Stuff that young people couldn’t be blamed for their reluctance to join the transport industry with the current licensing system being what it is.
According to Stuff, Mayfield Transport owner-operator Peter Hobbs says the biggest problem is the two-year gap between leaving school and being able to become licensed, even though training was available at Ara Polytechnic and ProDriver Training School.
“Any school-aged pupil interested in a career in trucks soon lost interest when the delays and restrictions created by the licensing process become apparent,” says Hobbs.
