Freight transport – more than just driving

Professional drivers who use their trucks to deliver to companies, supermarkets or construction sites every day are the backbone of goods transport. In the truest sense of the word: they keep the flow of goods going and have to be able to withstand quite a lot. Yet there are far too few people interested in this profession. According to the German Federal Association of Road Haulage, Logistics and Disposal (BGL), at least 120,000 drivers are missing. The consequence: trucks stand idle, forwarding companies have to turn down orders and employees are at their breaking point. For drivers, the shortage is not a disadvantage, at least as far as pay and additional benefits are concerned. But they also have to meet more requirements in terms of professional and personal skills than in the past. This is the finding of the in-depth analysis of 350 job advertisements for drivers.

In 2024, 534,602 professional drivers in freight transport were employed in Germany in jobs subject to social security contributions. The profession goes far beyond steering and loading and unloading a vehicle. The specialists also take on surrounding tasks, such as checking the freight documents, coordinating with customers and warehouse staff, or even doing some hands-on work on their own vehicle. For this they not only have to complete the prescribed qualifications regularly, but also need additional certificates for some tasks. 

For the DEKRA Labor Market Report 2026, 350 job advertisements for specialists in the profession of „professional driver“ were analyzed. The requirements placed on them were last in focus in 2019.  

Not only deployed in the core industry

Once a specialist has been found, employers prefer to hire them full-time (87.7 %). Others are glad of every helping hand and offer interested candidates the option of working either part-time or full-time (9.7 %). 
As expected, the sought-after drivers later often work in the transport and logistics sector (38.9 %). The sample also contained comparatively many job offers from staffing agencies (16.9 %). In these cases, many of the specialists are presumably also behind the wheel for transport companies. These often resort to temporary workers to absorb order peaks, because they cannot find enough driving staff. Retail is also an important field of deployment, since many goods are handled here every day. A good one in ten specialists is on the road on behalf of a retail company, where they particularly often transport building materials or food. Other fields of activity include, for example, the recycling and disposal, construction and wholesale sectors.