Truck supply has improved in parts of the market, but the ability to put more vehicles into service is still being constrained by a more fundamental problem: the shortage of drivers.
Speaking at Hino Australia’s recent business briefing, President and CEO Richard Emery said fleet customers were continuing to delay growth plans because they could not find enough qualified drivers.
“We still get customers saying to us, ‘If you could find me some drivers, I’ll buy some more trucks from you,’” Emery said.
The comment highlights a difficult reality for transport operators. A new truck does not automatically add capacity if there is no driver available to operate it.
More trucks do not always mean more freight capacity
For fleet buyers, vehicle replacement and fleet expansion are often treated as procurement issues. Lead times, supply allocation, body-build capacity and finance are all important.
However, the driver shortage is increasingly shaping the return on any new truck investment.
An operator may have demand for more work, access to a new truck and the capital to fund it, but still be unable to take on additional freight because there are not enough drivers available.
Emery said the shortage was not only affecting growth. It was also creating pressure to retain the drivers already in the industry.
“The lack of drivers is the other,” he said. “We need to do more work to not only encourage people to choose trucking or the truck industry as a great career, but we need to be able to keep them in the industry.”
Retention is becoming as important as recruitment
Emery said the industry needed to focus on the reasons drivers leave, including workload pressures and wider workplace issues.
“We’ve got some issues rolling around the country at the moment in terms of workloads, delivery pressure, growing racism, issues that is forcing many people out of the industry,” he said.
“We need to keep everybody because we’re already short of people, and if we keep losing or have leakage in terms of people, then that’s only going to make things harder.”
For Fleet Managers, that shifts attention towards the day-to-day driver experience. Vehicle specification, fatigue management, route design, scheduling, access to facilities, supervisor behaviour and workplace culture all become part of capacity planning.
A driver who leaves because of unrealistic delivery schedules or poor work conditions is not easily replaced in a tight labour market.
A shortage with a long-term impact
Emery said the shortage was already substantial and could become more severe without action.
“We’re already around 30,000 drivers short, and that will only get worse if we don’t arrest that leakage of drivers,” he said.
The 30,000 figure is Emery’s estimate and should be viewed in that context. However, the broader point is clear: the driver workforce is a limiting factor for the freight sector.
The shortage also has implications for transport pricing. When operators need to pay more to attract and retain drivers, redesign rosters or leave equipment parked, freight capacity becomes more expensive.
Those costs can then flow through to customers and, ultimately, consumer prices.
Technology can help, but it cannot replace the workforce
Technology can reduce some pressure on drivers and operations teams. Telematics, route optimisation, fatigue tools, safety systems and digital paperwork can help make work more efficient and may improve the driver experience.
But they do not replace the need for capable people behind the wheel.
Emery’s comments are a reminder that productivity policy cannot focus only on roads, access approvals or vehicle technology. It also needs to address the people required to operate the fleet.
For operators, the practical question is not simply how many trucks they can buy. It is how many trucks they can reliably crew, retain drivers for and keep operating safely over the long term.
