The Australian Trucking Association engaged government at the Jobs and Skills Summit on a topic, a critical shortage of skilled workers, which the road transport industry understands well.
A quick scan of the news headlines reveals that staff shortages are plaguing businesses across the country. It seems most businesses, no matter how big, are affected as they struggle to find enough employees.
This is not news to the trucking industry.
Operators have been finding it difficult to attract good drivers at the best of times. And these are clearly not the best of times.
The trucking industry faces a critical shortage of skilled workers, especially in the Northern Territory and Western Australia, including—
- truck drivers, where there are some 21,400 vacancies advertised on Seek. Many of those advertisements are for multiple vacancies
- heavy diesel mechanics and technicians
- supervisors and managers.
The ATA and member associations discussed these issues with the Australian Government at a recent roundtable ahead of the Jobs and Skills Summit and recommended that the Government —
- redesignate truck driving as skill level 3 under the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) rather than skill level 4. ANZSCO skill level 3 is equivalent to a certificate III including two years of on-the-job training and would be consistent with the creation of the new truck driver apprenticeship
- add truck driving to the Australian Apprenticeship Priority List (which determines eligibility for training support payments) and the Trade Support Loans Priority List. Research by the Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business has found that financial support would greatly assist in attracting new entrants to the industry
- add truck driving to the skilled migration visa system, with the requirement that truck drivers migrating to Australia undertake driver training here and hold an Australian driving licence of the required class.
There are several regulatory roadblocks to overcoming the skills shortage.
The existing heavy vehicle driver licensing system is not fit for purpose. Drivers graduate without the skills employers needed, and the system imposes a mandatory waiting period between each driver licence class.
It’s not surprising that many potential occupational drivers choose to work elsewhere.
In addition, the Heavy Vehicle National Law expects drivers to fill in complex work diaries and imposes unreasonable penalties for paperwork errors and minor fatigue breaches. It is known that the complexity of the fatigue rules and the seemingly random penalties discourage people from working as drivers.
The ATA is confident that if the trucking industry and the federal government work together, they can get more people driving trucks and delivering for Australia.
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