Former Truck Driver Writer Reveals the Unreasonable Situation in the Workplace Before the “2024 Problem

It was under the declaration of a state of emergency in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis that the spotlight fell on truck drivers in the inter-company transport industry, who are usually invisible to the general public. As essential workers who support the social infrastructure, the drivers were happy to see messages such as “Thank you to all those who support logistics” posted on highway signs. However, their working environment seems to have become even worse.

Essential workers were supposed to be given priority for vaccines, but drivers would only return to their hometowns once every week or two if they were long-distance workers. At that time, with appointments being hard to get, it was practically impossible to schedule them until the second booster. So many people were getting the shots when they were available, later than the general inoculation.

Also, due to the request to refrain from going out, all the SAs and PAs were closed at once, so there were no places to eat, and the shower rooms and restrooms at the gas stations were also out of order. Anyway, there were many unreasonable things. If they were asking us to work hard, I wish the government had made the environment a little more conducive to working hard.

The “2024 problem” is a hot topic these days. As part of the reform of work style, overtime work will be limited to 960 hours per year from April 2024 in order to improve the working environment for truck drivers who work long hours. It is said that this could result in 30% of cargo not being delivered. There is also a serious shortage of drivers and a decrease in driver income.

The working environment for drivers is a combination of long hours and low wages, and yet the government is trying very hard to reduce the number of hours worked. Many drivers are paid on a commission basis, so if they work fewer hours, their income will decrease dramatically.

The average age of truck drivers is around 50, but some have started looking for a new job, saying it may be their last chance to change jobs. There are also people who want to start doing Uber Eats on the side. It’s a reversal of the whole idea of reforming the way people work, which is to give them a break, and then make them work even harder,” he said.

It is a complete reversal of the original plan if the working environment deteriorates as the rule to reduce working hours becomes a one-size-fits-all solution. In order to improve the working environment, it is essential to gain the understanding of shippers so that the unreasonableness mentioned earlier can be eliminated. Above all, a prerequisite for higher wages is higher freight rates. To this end, it may be important for us, the general public, to think about the truck drivers who continue to transport goods day after day without a break.