Germany's Empty Seats · Part 1

Who Will Drive Germany's Trucks? 70,000 Seats Are Already Empty

As retirements outpace new entrants and Eastern Europe's driver pool runs dry, Code 95 Plus, the logistics division of recruitment group Takt Group, is offering German hauliers a single, managed route to qualified drivers from outside the EU, with German language training and integration delivered by its partner Auxila.

On any weekday morning, in depots across Germany, roadworthy trucks with full order books are going nowhere. There is no breakdown and no shortage of freight. There is simply nobody to drive them.

According to the Federal Association of Road Haulage, Logistics and Disposal (BGL), the country is now short of more than 70,000 professional truck drivers. Around a third of those still working are over 55. Every year, roughly 30,000 to 35,000 drivers retire, while only 15,000 to 20,000 newcomers join the profession.

The outlook is worse still. A study published this summer by KOFA, the German Economic Institute's centre for skilled labour, estimates that around 200,000 truck drivers will retire over the next 10 to 15 years, part of a wider shift in which 13.4 million people, almost a third of today's workforce, will pass retirement age by 2039.

For Bavaria, home to some of Europe's most demanding manufacturing supply chains, the consequences are immediate. More than 70 per cent of Germany's freight moves by road. When a seat stays empty, routes are reworked, remaining drivers absorb overtime until they burn out or leave, tenders are turned down and customers notice. For logistics directors, the question is no longer what recruitment costs, but what an empty seat costs every week.

The old answers are running out

For years, German hauliers filled the gap with drivers from Central and Eastern Europe. That pool is shrinking. Poland, Romania and the Baltic states face the same demographic pressures and now compete for the same people. Domestic training helps, but producing a new CE driver takes time and money, and many do not stay in the profession.

Recruiting from outside the EU is the logical next step, and there is a substantial pool of experienced drivers in Southeast Asia and elsewhere. But operators who have tried it alone know how quickly it becomes complicated:

•      Licensing. Most non-EU licences cannot simply be exchanged for German C or CE categories. Drivers generally need to pass German theory and practical tests.

•      Professional qualification. Every commercial driver in the EU needs the initial driver qualification and Code 95 entry, followed by 35 hours of periodic training every five years.

•      Visas and paperwork. Visas, Federal Employment Agency approval, document checks and registration involve several authorities. A single missing document can cost months.

•      Language. A driver who cannot follow a dispatcher, read a delivery note or speak to an officer at a roadside check is an operational and compliance risk.

•      Compliance. EU drivers' hours, tachograph rules and the Mobility Package are strictly enforced, and infringements fall on the operator as well as the driver.

•      Relocation and retention. Without housing and support, drivers new to the country often leave within the first year, taking the operator's investment with them.

•      Risk and reputation. Operators are wary of paying for a hire who does not work out, and shippers increasingly audit how their carriers' drivers were recruited.

None of these hurdles is insurmountable. Handled separately, by providers who do not talk to one another, they make international recruitment slow, costly and unreliable.

One company in charge of the whole process

Code 95 Plus was set up to remove that fragmentation. As the dedicated logistics division of Takt Group, an internationally recognised recruitment company operating across Europe and Southeast Asia, it takes ownership of the entire process and acts as the operator's single point of contact, from first enquiry to the driver's first shift.

Sourcing and screening. Code 95 Plus recruits drivers who already have verifiable heavy-vehicle experience, then assesses their driving competence, work history and motivation before presenting them. These are not trainees: the skill already exists. The task is to make it fit German and European requirements, which is faster and more predictable than building a driver from zero.

Qualification and compliance. Candidates are prepared for German licence requirements and the Code 95 qualification, with training in EU drivers' hours, tachograph use, load security and German operating standards.

Visas and documentation. Code 95 Plus manages the visa process and supporting paperwork, removing the administrative burden that derails so many international hires.

Relocation. Where required, Code 95 Plus supports relocation and immigration, so drivers arrive with the essentials of a new life already in place.

Integration: the half of the job most recruiters overlook

Finding and qualifying a driver is only half the task. The other half, just as important, is ensuring that the driver can communicate, settle and stay. For this, Code 95 Plus works with Auxila, a specialist language-training company with its own academy.

Auxila's programme begins before departure, through on-site and online tuition, so drivers arrive with practical, job-specific German: the language of loading bays, delivery documents, safety instructions and roadside checks. Cultural preparation covers the unwritten rules of German working life, from punctuality to communication with dispatch.

The principle is simple: integration should begin before employment, not after problems appear. Drivers who understand their colleagues and their surroundings become productive sooner and are far more likely to stay.

What operators can expect

•      A single point of contact. Code 95 Plus manages sourcing, qualification, visas, relocation and onboarding, with Auxila delivering language training and integration.

•      A replacement guarantee. If a driver does not work out during the six-month probation period, Code 95 Plus provides a replacement.

•      Flexible, competitive terms. Commercial arrangements are tailored to each client, whether filling a handful of seats or building a long-term pipeline.

•      Ethical recruitment. Drivers are recruited fairly and transparently, an increasingly important consideration for shippers auditing their supply chains.

•      Lower compliance risk. Drivers understand EU driving-time rules and German standards before their first shift.

•      Stronger retention. Language and cultural preparation reduce early departures and protect the operator's investment.

The talent exists, just not in Germany

No single measure will solve the driver shortage. Automation, vocational training and better working conditions all have a part to play. But the demographic arithmetic is unforgiving, and a truck still needs a qualified person behind the wheel.

The drivers Germany needs exist; most of them are simply not here yet. Finding them, verifying them, preparing them and keeping them is precisely what Code 95 Plus, together with Auxila, has been built to do.

For hauliers tired of turning down work, paying for overtime and watching vehicles stand idle in the yard, the conversation starts with one question: how many seats do you need to fill this year?

Next in Germany's Empty Seats: what does an empty driver's seat really cost? We put a figure on the hidden losses German hauliers absorb every week, and why most never see them on the balance sheet.