Transport crisis: Ukraine is facing a catastrophic shortage of drivers due to mobilization

Ukraine is facing a transport crisis due to a shortage of drivers caused by mobilization.

This was stated by Dmitry Leushkin, expert and founder of the Prime Group of Companies, on Facebook.

According to him, while there are plenty of vehicles available — “at least two to three times more than needed to cover all urgent demands” — many of them are sitting idle because of a lack of drivers.

“There are plenty of trucks, but they’re parked instead of running routes. There are no drivers! The 50% mobilization exemption quota sucked them all in. And the process continues. In three months it may seem like the problem has eased somewhat, and we’ll somehow make it through January–February, when freight volumes are expected to be record-low. But March–April — that will be the end of these convulsions. The market will finally collapse,” Leushkin wrote.

He is calling for at least 75% of drivers — particularly those working international routes — to be exempted from mobilization.

Back in July, Deputy Minister for Communities and Territories Development Serhiy Derkach had already warned about an acute shortage of truck drivers in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian companies have started bringing in labor migrants from India and Bangladesh to fill the gap.