Today is the fifth edition of Truck Driver Day, organized by Transport & Logistics Belgium. Nearly 300 companies (carriers, shippers and suppliers) are organizing a campaign to celebrate truck drivers.
With these hundreds of events, Transport & Logistics Belgium wants to emphasize the importance of the truck driving profession for society as a whole: “It is a moment to reflect on the 78,601 professionals who keep our economy running every day. But it is above all a call for more respect and recognition for a profession that is essential for our society, but that often remains invisible and receives insufficient recognition. The transport sector requires more social appreciation, better infrastructure and structural improvements to the working conditions of these indispensable professionals.”
These problems are one of the causes of the current shortage of drivers, but Transport & Logistics Belgium still points to a number of positive signs: the number of students enrolled in secondary education for the 2025-2026 school year has increased (slightly) (+ 2.5%), which shows that despite the sometimes negative image it has, the profession is gaining in attractiveness among young people. In contrast, the share of women in the profession remains too low (2.19%), even though the majority of women driving trucks are relatively young (52.07% between 26 and 45 years). According to TLB, this proves that the profession can be perfectly combined with an active private life.
To increase the attractiveness of the profession, TLB points out the areas where structural improvements are desirable:
- Better infrastructure: fewer traffic jams thanks to intelligent planning of road works and increasing capacity at bottlenecks
- Sufficient safe parking spaces: so that drivers can spend their mandatory rest periods in safe and hygienic conditions
- Respect for other road users: understanding the limitations of large vehicles in traffic
- Social recognition: of the essential and complex character of the profession
- Supporting greening: financial incentives for the transition to emission-free transport
- Administrative simplification: less administrative burden and more efficient procedures in daily management
It is striking that the issue of wages is not mentioned…
