The average qualified “Heavy Duty” truck driver in Japan are in their 50s, said UD Trucks.

In Malaysia, the figures aren’t that promising either.

In fact, in Asia, young men are not queuing up to become highly-trained truck operators, resorting to find less laborious and less physically intensive occupations.

Some truck manufacturers have changed their built design of their trucks to cater for physically smaller truck drivers, and this includes designing the interior of trucks to be built for women drivers.

At the Tokyo Motor Show, UD Trucks showcased women truck drivers during their product launch. Hino and Scania did the same in mentioning to the press that women in general should at least consider being a heavy duty truck driver when choosing a career.

But taking things back to the present situation, the shortages of skilled truck drivers are growing year on year as present drivers continue to age, with no replacement of younger drivers joining this occupation.

This trend is worrying truck manufacturers around the globe.

The managing director of Scania Malaysia, Marie Sjödin Enström has been quoted on Astro AWANI’s Market Talk as saying that Scania is training truck drivers and rewarding the best of them through competitions to signify Scania’s commitment in improving the quality of drivers around the country.

In Japan, medium-sized and heavy-duty truck manufacturer, UD Trucks is doing the same through their “Extra Mile Challenge”. The Extra Mile Challenge is an international competition that pits champions from various countries against each other.

UD Trucks is a wholly owned subsidiary of Volvo Trucks after the latter acquired the former in 2007.

For Malaysia, the champion is 45 year old Anuar Bin Ahmad, a 20-year veteran with Gardenia Bakeries Sdn Bhd.

He will compete against champions among others, from South Africa, Indonesia and Thailand in the Extra Mile Challenge taking place here on 7 November.

The President of UD Trucks, Yoshihiro Murakami says that “UD wants ‘smart logistics’ to be our culture”.

“Smart logistics mean that we create not just ‘smart products and services’, but also ‘smart drivers’ as well” he added.

Nobuhiko Kishi, the Senior Vice President of UD Trucks complemented Murakami-San’s statement by saying that UD Trucks is committed in creating better drivers through their “Gemba Spirit” culture.

Asked on what is ‘Gemba Spirit’, Kishi-San explained “Gemba loosely means ‘Action Taken’, and it is an understanding of what our customer’s point-of-view is. It is our way of work and how we introduce our culture to deliver the best for our customers. Everything we do goes back to the ‘gemba’” he explains.

UD Trucks and Scania are just a handful of truck manufacturers spending a lot of resources in training and retraining truck drivers around the world.

The shortages of this occupation may lead to distorting the economic progress that many countries are pursuing.


Note: Watch the full coverage of UID Trucks ad their extra mile challenges on 'Market Talk' this Monday (Nov 13, 2017) on Astro AWANI