17-year-old Ibra Drammeh wants to follow in his father's footsteps and become a truck driver. His dream, to drive a large tonnage trailer and travel around Europe. "Driving trucks is something I've always liked, I've lived it since I was a child and I think it's a good job opportunity", he explains during the break of a practical class with a simulator in the middle grade cycle of vehicle driving which he studies at the Montilivi Institute in Girona. Mohamed Buhamed, also 17, has other interests. His goal is to be a coach driver on international routes, although he will have to wait until he is 23, which is when the law allows him to make such long journeys.
The lack of professional drivers is increasing. While the transport of goods by rail represents only 3.5% as of now, it is estimated that by 2026 around 30,000 jobs will need to be filled in Spain. Young people such as Ibra or Mohamed will be an exception in a sector where more than half of the 450,000 employees are over 50 years old. With an increasingly aging workforce, with more retirements and a deficit of professionals that keeps growing, the trade is a job guarantee. But it remains "unattractive" for those who have to guarantee the generational succession in the future.
There are several reasons why this is not a country for truck drivers. The lack of regulated public training has been a major stumbling block, according to complaints from this sector. A fact that the Administration has started to alleviate with the implementation of training cycles such as the one that Ibra and Mohamed are taking in Girona in all the Catalan provinces. Until recently, there was only the option of training in Vic. The alternative was the driving school, where the amount to be paid ranges from 3,000 to 4,000 euros, a price that includes the license and the professional aptitude certificate, a course of around 140 hours that is essential to be able to drive. "You need an investment in time and money to access the profession", acknowledges Raúl Viladrich, president of the Federation of Driving Schools of Catalonia. However, he explains that they have noticed "an increase" in registrations to start in the profession since the news that there is a lack of staff. "There are even companies that are paying for the permits", he adds.
Remuneration and the schedule, which often requires availability at the weekend, is another of the obstacles, as are the age limitations to be able to drive buses, as explained by the vice-president of the Girona Transport Association ( Asetrans), Àlex Gilabert, and president of the Teisa bus company, which also denounces recruitment difficulties, originally.
All this means that entry into the transport sector is very slow, while retirements are arriving "in an avalanche", says Jordi Esparraguera, director of Asestrans. Remember that many of the truck drivers who are on the verge of retirement obtained their truck driver's license during military service, a group that is approaching the end of their working life. Josep M., who at the age of 62, has been working behind the wheel for almost forty years, is about to retire. He has done everything within the sector: national, international and regional travel, working for his own account and for others. "In all this time I have never lacked work", he states, although he recognizes the hardness of the job. Many nights away from home, little time with the family and a very physical job in the beginning. "Fortunately, now it goes on pallets", he says.
The president of the Transport and Logistics Association of Catalonia, Antonio Martínez, calls for measures to "dignify" the sector. He explains that one out of every two transporters has been robbed while in the cab of the truck, something that could be solved by increasing the number of spaces in monitored car parks. "There are 500,000 places missing in Europe and there are no more than a thousand in Catalonia," he explains. 32,000 trucks travel daily on the Tarragona-la Jonquera axis.
He believes that another reason for the shortage of drivers is "the mistreatment" that has traditionally been given to the profession. The law currently prohibits a driver from being away from home for more than two months, when previously they could be away for up to 11 months. "For the last 10 or 15 years, there are hardly any local carriers", he adds. The profession has ceased to be attractive to young Spaniards. "The lack of truck drivers is a problem in most countries", explains Demetrio Padilla, the dangerous goods driving trainer and teacher of the intermediate level of vehicle driving in Girona, who lived in Canada for a decade. "There, 80% were foreigners, which is what happens here", he explains.
