How the CART Guide is Keeping Drivers Safe on the Road

According to IRU, the world road transport organisation, in 2022 the commercial road transport sector suffered a shortage of 2.6 million professional drivers, with vacancies in Europe rising 42% year-over-year.

The IRU’s Global Driver Shortage Report highlighted over 100,000 vacant driver positions in the United Kingdom, 80,000 driving job opportunities in both Germany and Poland, and another 71,000 positions waiting to be filled in Romania. Recruiting drivers remains one of the greatest challenges to supply chain resilience in the Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) region and how companies are ‘thinking outside of the box’ to attract drivers is a topic we will return to in a future issue of Vigilant.

The report referenced a sequence of statistics which demonstrate the challenges drivers and employers face:

  • Less than 3% of truck drivers in the EMEA region are women.
  • Young drivers under the age of 25 remain a small minority, accounting for just 6-7% of the truck driver population.
  • Europe has the highest average truck driver age of 47 years.
  • Europe has an estimated 500,000 vacant driver opportunities.
  • This at a time when the youth unemployment rate in the EU is 14.5%.
  • Without action, Europe could lack over 2 million drivers by 2026 – a situation which could impact half of all freight movements, IRU says.
  • The scarcity of drivers and newcomers to the driving profession is despite driver salaries being up to 5 times higher than average minimum wages in some cases.

The minimum age requirement is one of the barriers. Another hurdle is the high training and licence cost. The IRU gives an example of France, where this costs €5,300 or more than three times the average minimum monthly salary.

Commenting on the report’s findings, IRU Secretary General, Umberto de Pretto, said, “Chronic commercial driver shortages are getting worse, with millions of positions remaining unfilled. This is putting already stressed economies and communities at higher risk of inflation, social mobility issues and supply chain meltdowns.” 

“Road transport operators are doing their part, but governments and authorities need to maintain focus, especially to improve parking infrastructure, training access, and encourage more women and young people into the profession,” added Umberto de Pretto.

Significantly, the IRU survey of more than 1,500 commercial road transport operators in 25 countries across the Americas, Asia and Europe, said 95% of truck drivers highlighted personal security as one of the key factors which would increase the attractiveness of the profession – but this represents another significant challenge the industry still needs to facilitate. In the EU, only 3% of existing truck parking places are certified as safe and secure, a fact TAPA EMEA’s Parking Security Requirements (PSR) and the European Commission’s Safe & Secure Truck Parking Areas (SSTPA) Standards are starting to address. But it will be a long haul to establish the network of secure parking places needed to meet the current level of demand.

Driver safety, of course, has been a prerequisite for the transport industry for decades.

In recent years, one of the most effective and unique resources to help commercial vehicle drivers increase their awareness of security threats, and to benefit from practical advice, has been The Drivers’ Cargo & Road Transport (CART) Security Guide.  

The original CART Guide project was the brainchild of Alan Maple of Maple Fleet Services, who dedicated his career to developing cargo security solutions and combatting freight crime, and who was incredibly passionate about giving ‘something back’ to the industry. At the outset, he set about cajoling his peers, not that they needed much persuasion, in helping to develop a security guide that could be shared, free of charge, across the industry. This is exactly what he and the rest of the working group achieved. 

Today, in addition to Maple, the latest version of the Guide is supported by RHA, DHL, RSA, Motorway Buddy and NaVCIS – and now TAPA EMEA has added its contribution by sponsoring the translation of the CART publication into German, French, Italian, Spanish, Polish and Romanian language editions, boosting its access and value to an even greater driver community across the EMEA region.   

“So well received was the original Guide that a follow-up drivers’ edition was soon commissioned, and again it was distributed free of charge to the industry, thanks to the support received from those companies who backed the project. Alan sadly and unexpectedly passed away in 2022, but I know it would have given him great pride and satisfaction to see that TAPA EMEA have now lent their support to the project, facilitating the translation of the guide into a further 6 languages,” said Paul Nunn, Marketing Manager of Maple Fleet Services.   

In its opening preface to drivers, the Guide states: ‘As a professional driver in the road haulage industry, you are exposed to a multitude of different risks daily. For many such risks, you will receive extensive training and advice on how to deal with such scenarios. Yet one area that is often overlooked is that of security and cargo crime, which remains something of a taboo subject.

‘In truth, cargo crime is a wide and varying subject. In common with other criminal activity, security threats are ever-evolving and it is important that we collectively acknowledge this threat and are aware of best practice to minimise this risk. This guide has been produced to provide an overview of the varying threats that you may be exposed to as a professional driver, to help determine the level of risk and offer advice on how you can protect yourself, your vehicle/trailer and the cargo being carried.’

It then gives more detail information and advice on:

  • The Terrorist Threat
  • Cargo Crime 
  • Truck Stops & Secure Parking
  • Hijackings & Theft from Moving Vehicles
  • Deception Theft 
  • Clandestine Entry
  • Light Commercial Vehicle Crime 

TAPA EMEA believes the CART Guide is a highly effective tool to help increase driver safety and to help prevent cargo losses.

Thorsten Neumann, President & CEO of TAPA EMEA, says: “Understanding the risks to cargo security and the types of modus operandi used by offenders to target supply chains is critical to preventing losses and protecting the safety of employees working at the heart of the supply chain process. In EMEA, we know that the greatest risk of cargo crime involves attacks on trucks and drivers. So, we applaud the CART Guide initiative started by Alan Maple and are proud to be able to increase its distribution to drivers operating across Europe in their own local languages. This will increase their protection and, in turn, support the resilience of the supply chains they are so important to.” 

All the language translations of the The Drivers’ Cargo & Road Transport (CART) Security Guide are available to download from the TAPA EMEA website.

How the CART Guide is Keeping Drivers Safe on the Road
How the CART Guide is Keeping Drivers Safe on the Road
How the CART Guide is Keeping Drivers Safe on the Road
How the CART Guide is Keeping Drivers Safe on the Road
How the CART Guide is Keeping Drivers Safe on the Road
How the CART Guide is Keeping Drivers Safe on the Road
How the CART Guide is Keeping Drivers Safe on the Road
How the CART Guide is Keeping Drivers Safe on the Road
How the CART Guide is Keeping Drivers Safe on the Road
How the CART Guide is Keeping Drivers Safe on the Road
How the CART Guide is Keeping Drivers Safe on the Road
How the CART Guide is Keeping Drivers Safe on the Road
How the CART Guide is Keeping Drivers Safe on the Road
How the CART Guide is Keeping Drivers Safe on the Road
How the CART Guide is Keeping Drivers Safe on the Road
How the CART Guide is Keeping Drivers Safe on the Road
How the CART Guide is Keeping Drivers Safe on the Road
How the CART Guide is Keeping Drivers Safe on the Road