"I sent a letter to the ministry because it is not planning to commission vocational schools to teach state-funded bus or truck driver curricula next academic year. I asked why that is, when we are facing a very acute shortage of truck and bus drivers," said Kersten Kattai, director of the Association of Carriers (Autoettevõtete Liit), speaking to ERR on Wednesday.

He also noted that transport companies have invested in driver training by sending representatives to advisory councils, helping design curricula, organizing workplace-based training and various demo days. "We are doing what we can and then we expect the state to do its part as well. Because there really is a major labor shortage — the average age of bus drivers is approaching 60," Kattai said.

The head of the Association of Carriers added that, in addition to state-funded schools, private training companies also provide truck and bus driver training. "Quite large numbers do complete these courses there, but many of them still do not go to work in the sector. Licenses are obtained just in case, so that you have the category available, or for personal use, or as a backup option," Kattai explained.

In his written response to the inquiry, Alo Savi, head of the vocational education and skills policy department at the Ministry of Education and Research, said the ministry has not discontinued driver training. Instead, he pointed to what he described as a market failure as the cause of the shortage.

"The OSKA (Estonian Qualifications Authority) study highlights that in the case of both public transport and truck drivers, we are dealing with a market failure — in theory, the inflow of new professional drivers is more than sufficient, yet employers perceive a severe shortage. A large number are trained — nearly 320 bus drivers and 1,150 truck drivers per year, mainly through continuing education — but the problem is employment uptake," he acknowledged.

Savi also noted that under the new applied upper secondary education curriculum, within the logistics and warehouse management program there is a separate track for freight and passenger transport management, through which students can acquire both bus and truck driver skills. In addition, the skills required for Category C motor vehicle driving and freight management are also obtained through the national defense applied upper secondary curriculum.

Asked whether "market failure" means low pay, Kattai said: "It depends on how you look at it. Wages are formed in a competitive environment. Of course pay is a central variable, but you cannot say that it is necessarily the main reason why people do not enter the sector."

"For example, if you look at salary data, wages vary considerably depending on the type of transport. In the timber haulage sector, for instance, truck driver salaries are perfectly decent — over €2,000, around €2,500 — if you look at a narrower segment of the sector," she said.

She also pointed to bus drivers, whose wages have been agreed upon by unions and employers and are expected to rise to a fairly competitive level in the coming years.

Üllar Kallas, chair of the Transport Workers' Union, said in response that "market failure" means a mismatch between the demands placed on drivers and the benefits offered in return, making the profession unattractive.

"In fact, quite a lot of drivers are trained — based on the number of training sessions, there should be enough. But if we look at how employers treat drivers, wages are still relatively low. For example, in the case of long-haul drivers, a large portion of pay consists of per diem allowances on which employers do not have to pay taxes. That means these amounts are not counted as wages for social guarantees, such as pensions, sick pay or other benefits," he told ERR.

Kallas also highlighted company practices, saying that drivers are very often presented with claims for damages in various situations.

"A very significant impact also comes from the fact that quite a lot of damage claims have been filed against employees. This means that in cases such as traffic accidents, crashes or problems with cargo — for example, something is broken, spoiled or whatever the case may be. There have even been cases where claims of more than €100,000 have been filed against an employee at the labor dispute committee," he said.

Both Kallas and Kattai emphasized the wage agreement reached between the Association of Carriers and the Transport Workers' Union regarding bus drivers, which is expected to raise their pay close to the national average and establish clear working and rest time conditions. Since new county bus service contracts will be concluded on that basis, it should provide bus drivers with greater security and better conditions.

Truck drivers, however, have no such safeguard, meaning the only limitation is Estonia's minimum wage, below which they cannot be paid.

Kallas also said the driver shortage is creating pressure to recruit drivers from third countries where wage levels are significantly lower than in Estonia and where workers are not granted the same social guarantees as Estonians.

"And those who want to operate honestly and pay employees fairly lose their competitive edge. Otherwise they cannot transport goods or get work, because their price would be higher. So it becomes a vicious circle — to survive in this competition, everyone has to push costs down, and in the end, if fuel prices are the same for everyone and vehicle prices are the same for everyone, the only thing left to adjust is wages," Kallas said.

An OSKA report published in April 2024 states that compared with other transport sectors, the biggest problem in road transport is an aging workforce: over the next 10 years, nearly 40 percent of truck drivers and about 60 percent of bus drivers are expected to leave the labor market.

"In the case of public transport and truck drivers, the situation largely reflects a market failure. Based on data on those completing training, the inflow of new professional drivers is more than sufficient, but employers perceive a severe shortage. The reasons drivers do not enter employment are primarily related to working conditions (including pay, working hours, workload and flexibility)," the report states.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and X and never miss an update!