Over the past five years, Europe’s transport market has faced its most persistent and structural challenge: a chronic shortage of professional drivers. Despite higher wages, training subsidies, and government programs, the supply gap keeps widening – and the impact is now visible across every major corridor in the EU.
At RoadFreightCompany, we observe that in several European countries the driver deficit reaches 20–25% of actual market demand. This affects not only pricing, but the fundamental availability of transport capacity. Even well-planned shipments increasingly struggle to secure reliable slots during peak periods, particularly on high-density lanes through Germany, Benelux, and Poland.
The underlying causes go far beyond compensation. A large share of European long-haul freight depends on routes that keep drivers away from home for extended periods – a model that no longer aligns with the expectations of younger workers. Generational shifts in lifestyle priorities have made long-haul driving less appealing, despite the financial incentives. At the same time, Europe’s driver workforce continues to age, with the average age now around 47 and retirement rates outpacing recruitment.
The regulatory environment further complicates the situation. New EU mobility rules, stricter rest-time enforcement, and digital compliance requirements have increased administrative pressure on drivers and operators. While these rules improve working conditions, they also reduce operational flexibility and limit the number of available driving hours per week. As a result, even companies with a full roster of drivers often experience capacity constraints.
For shippers, this means that logistics planning must fundamentally evolve. RoadFreightCompany relies on predictive capacity modelling, flexible booking strategies, and multi-route design to mitigate volatility related to driver availability. We routinely adjust transit times and route expectations based on real-world behavior – actual traffic patterns, historical bottlenecks, seasonal workforce shortages – rather than relying solely on static contract data.
Clients who integrate driver-related risk into their planning achieve significantly more stable operations. Those who continue to rely on last-minute capacity face repeated delays, carrier cancellations, and escalating penalties from downstream partners. The uncertainty does not only affect transport performance – it impacts the entire supply chain, including inventory levels, production schedules, and customer commitments.
What makes the issue especially complex is its long-term nature. The driver shortage is not a temporary imbalance that the market will “naturally correct.” Demographic data, lifestyle preferences, and regulatory conditions all point to the same conclusion: Europe is entering a decade in which qualified drivers will remain in deficit. Automated driving technologies may eventually reduce the pressure, but they are not a near-term solution.
This is why RoadFreightCompany places so much emphasis on early planning, accurate forecasting, and stable coordination. The most effective mitigation strategy is not simply to find more drivers – it is to build a transport model that expects volatility and manages it proactively. Companies that succeed in the next five years will be those that see capacity shortages not as an occasional disruption, but as a permanent operational factor that requires professional oversight and predictive logistics.
The driver deficit will remain a structural challenge for Europe’s road freight sector. Better forecasting, tighter coordination, and strong partnerships are the only reliable tools to navigate it – and Road Freight Company is committed to providing exactly that level of control and stability for its clients.