Trucking is looking for new drivers in Genoa: “300 are missing”

The alarm in the Tir sector. In Liguria 500 truck drivers are needed. Tagnochetti: companies want to hire but can’t find

Genoa – In Genoa there are no truck drivers, companies would like to hire but cannot find staff. “There are about 300 missing in the province. We arrive at 500 drivers if we calculate the whole regional territory. Many companies are willing to offer permanent contracts but there are no staff and many trucks are stopped », says Giuseppe Tagnochetti, Ligurian coordinator of Trasportiunito.

The absence of truck drivers is not only a Ligurian problem but in the region this negative situation is particularly accentuated. «After the collapse of Morandi – he says Roberto Gennai, head of Cna-Fita Genoa – the Ligurian motorways have become a real nightmare between continuous construction sites and closure: there are cases of drivers who after the 2018 tragedy decided to leave this job and take up a new profession “. One of the impediments that discourages aspiring truck drivers from approaching the world of road transport are the costs to be incurred to obtain the C, E and Cqc freight licenses to drive trucks. “We are talking about about eight thousand euros in total, which are certainly not a figure within everyone’s reach – continues Tagnochetti -. Precisely for this reason, it is necessary that concessions and incentives are studied for those who decide to approach this sector in such a way that they do not have to spend such important figures out of their own pockets “.

The pandemic has aggravated the problem of the lack of drivers of heavy vehicles. “With Covid – continues Tagnochetti – many unvaccinated foreign drivers have decided to return to work in their country of origin and consequently the shortage of drivers is making itself felt even more. Then there is the aspect that concerns positive workers forced to stop until recovery and that which affects all those over 50 truck drivers who do not intend to get vaccinated and will soon be suspended from work “.

The trade associations estimate that at the moment, on the regional territory, an average of five trucks out of a hundred are stopped every day precisely because of the lack of drivers ». However, that of the shortage of drivers of the Tir is a problem that affects the whole national territory. The Anita association, last November, estimated that Italian companies need 17,000 drivers for their fleets, which at the moment they cannot find.

«It is not only an Italian phenomenon but of all Europe because For too long, young people have no longer found attractiveness in the profession due to a lack of consideration for the figure of the driver and high costs and times for obtaining the license and qualifications required to drive heavy vehicles, ”explains Thomas Baumgartner, president of Anita. He adds: “The employment rate in Italy is still very low, yet there are companies, precisely those of freight and logistics, which if they found workers with certain qualifications would be very inclined to be hired: we need to get out of this paradox, they must be created ad hoc training courses in technical institutes to solve a structural problem ».