Businesses are "looking for drivers with FC"

Goods are backlogged, container trucks are lined up at the yard while drivers with FC licenses are in short supply. Many businesses have to sell some of their vehicles, not daring to take on more goods because they cannot recruit drivers, a common situation, especially in Ho Chi Minh City.

Selling cars due to lack of drivers

A representative of a company in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City said that he had about 60 container trucks but due to lack of drivers, he was forced to sell some and now only has 25. However, the running capacity is still not up to the required level because there are no drivers.

Container driving requires experience and necessary skills, so the licensing conditions will be more strict than other license classes.

According to this business owner, there are many reasons why it is difficult to find drivers with FC licenses. The average driver salary is currently around 20 million/month but the travel is long, the work intensity and the level of danger are high.

When there is a violation, the penalty is also very severe, along with the suspension of the driver's license for many months. Therefore, many drivers switch to driving technology or work in other fields.

After the Covid-19 pandemic, the shift of labor from Ho Chi Minh City to other localities also caused a sharp decline in the number of drivers in the city.

"Drivers are scarce, and the FC license exam is very strict, so it's even scarcer. We've posted job postings and searched from many different sources, but it's all difficult," said the business owner.

Similarly, a representative of another business shared that almost every transport company has difficulty recruiting drivers with FC licenses.

Previously, the company would interview the driver, but now it is the opposite. When the driver comes to the company, the first thing they ask is salary and benefits. Then they go to see the car, if the car is old and the benefits are not suitable, they will leave immediately.

"FC license drivers are very valuable nowadays. If you post a job posting looking for drivers for old container trucks, no driver will come. Even if you are recruiting new drivers, lighter goods, better working conditions, the chance of finding a driver is still very slim," said the representative.

Mr. Bui Van Quan, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Freight Transport Association, said: "The association has about 130 transport companies, and almost all of them lack drivers with FC licenses from 20 to 50%. The situation of having goods, vehicles, and money but no drivers is very common."

Should the conditions be relaxed?

According to regulations, on the day of the driving test, the person taking the FC driving test must be at least 24 years old. Regarding driving time standards, the driver must have at least 3 years of driving experience and 50,000km of safe driving.

In case of traffic violations resulting in revocation of driving license, safe driving time is calculated from the date of completion of execution of penalty decision.

The lack of FC licenses is partly due to the fact that many drivers are not interested in this difficult profession. Harsh working conditions, high risk coefficient, short working time, often having to be away from home, some transport companies avoid signing long-term contracts, paying insurance for drivers... are the reasons why drivers with C, D, E licenses have little need to study to convert or upgrade their licenses.

Prof. Dr. Tu Sy Sua, senior lecturer at University of Transport

To overcome the shortage of drivers with FC licenses, the Ho Chi Minh City Freight Transport Association proposed that the Vietnam Road Administration loosen the driving experience requirement from 3 years to 1 year and the total safe driving distance is 50,000km to create conditions for drivers to quickly take the FC license exam.

Mr. Bui Van Quan said that having to wait 3 more years or turn 24 to upgrade a driver’s license has caused many difficulties, reducing the supply of new drivers. Meanwhile, drivers still have to pass the theory test and skills test.

However, Professor Tu Sy Sua, senior lecturer at the University of Transport, said that although there is a shortage of drivers, the conditions for granting licenses should not be lowered, but many synchronous solutions are needed.

According to Mr. Sua, transporting goods by container, semi-trailer, trailer has high potential risk of traffic safety if the driver does not have enough experience and necessary skills. Therefore, the conditions for granting FC class car driving license must be stricter and more stringent than other driving classes.

"To overcome the shortage, transport businesses need to improve their benefits, working conditions, and insurance policies to create peace of mind for drivers when signing contracts.

Enterprises also need to recruit potential people to send them for training and development according to their needs. When attracting and using drivers in this way, the FC license will become more attractive, and the need for training will increase," said Mr. Sua.

The paradox of excess and still shortage

Mr. Luong Duyen Thong, Head of Vehicle and Driver Management Department, Vietnam Road Administration, said that the number of FC driving licenses is currently double the number of container trucks and tractors.

"Specifically, the whole country currently has more than 162,000 FC class driving licenses in circulation, while the number of vehicles only accounts for half. Ho Chi Minh City alone has more than 18,000 tractors and more than 46,000 driving licenses, the ratio of driving licenses to vehicles is 2.5. The number of driving licenses compared to the number of vehicles is not lacking," said Mr. Thong.

According to Mr. Thong, current training facilities and testing centers can fully meet the needs of training, testing and granting FC-class degrees to people in need.

The lack of drivers is due to learners not wanting to learn to drive this class or those with FC licenses but switching to other jobs. In addition, the treatment of businesses is also the reason why drivers are not interested.

Regarding the proposal to reduce the seniority from the current 3 years to 1 year to ease the problem of drivers for businesses, Mr. Thong assessed that to ensure traffic safety and reduce traffic accidents, it is necessary to maintain the regulation of 3 years of driving seniority for FC licenses.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/doanh-nghiep-do-mat-tim-tai-xe-bang-fc-192241202233159827.htm