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Kristian Kaas Mortensen, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Girteka Logistics.
The challenge of the driver shortage within the trucking industry is well known. Europe is facing a growing shortage of professional drivers, and currently has barely four-fifths of the trucker drivers it needs to meet the demand. With an ageing workforce and challenges recruiting young and female drivers into the profession, the risks posed by the shortage are becoming increasingly concerning.
IRU spoke to Kristian Kaas Mortensen, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Girteka Logistics, to discuss how they’ve been tackling the problem.
Tell us a bit about yourself, Girteka Logistics and your role in the company?
Girteka Logistics is a Lithuanian Logistics Company, founded in 1996. We conduct 460,000 full truck loads every year and we currently own a fleet of 6,000 trucks and 6,300 trailers.
I joined Girteka Logistics in early 2015, and since then I have held several roles. As Director of Strategic Partnerships, I am now a member of our group management board and focus mainly on three things: business development, keeping our biggest customers happy, and acting as Girteka Logistics’ spokesperson.
It's well documented that the industry currently suffers from a driver shortage, how has this affected Girteka Logistics?
To tell you the truth, the driver shortage isn’t a big problem for Girteka. Today, we employ 13,000 drivers, and by the end of 2021 we will employee 20,000. As we have a turnover of around 20% a year, this means we hire at least 100 new drivers a week.
However, we are acutely aware of the driver shortage as a problem across the industry. Staff turnover within the road transport sector is high, but today some companies are facing levels of turnover as high as around 50%.
How is Girteka Logistics able to retain and attract drivers, despite the industry shortage?
For us at Girteka, the key here has been investing in the welfare of our drivers, in particular through our driver welfare academy. We have 30 full time employees whose role is to educate drivers through the academy, and this allows us to focus our drivers on traffic safety and economical driving. Read more
Source: IRU
