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Jun 23, 2026 at 10:48 AM
The trucking industry in Australia is facing an increasing shortage of drivers, exacerbated by several factors: According to a statement from the International Road Transport Union (IRU), the driver shortage rate was 12% in 2025, compared to 10% in 2024. This development is accompanied, according to the association, by rising freight demand, an aging workforce, limited training opportunities, and inadequate infrastructure.
Sarah Dunning, strategy consultant for the IRU member company NatRoad, explains the situation as follows: “The driver shortage is more severe than most people assume, and it will worsen as drivers age or face other pressures such as rising costs for small and medium-sized enterprises.”
Growing demands
With the increasing demand for goods, the need for drivers is also growing. Dunning points out that in Australia, nearly all goods, from food to pharmaceuticals, must be transported by truck. “The freight traffic volume in Australia will continue to rise, and road transport is expected to account for an increasingly larger share of it,” she explains.
Forecasts cited by the IRU indicate that road freight transport will increase by 77% from 2020 to 2050. This poses not only immediate but also structural challenges for the industry: “Without a sufficient influx of drivers, more freight volume simply means an even greater shortage. We cannot solve this problem through growth; we must solve it through infrastructure,” Dunning states.
