The transport industry is short of drivers. But the driver shortage is only part of the problem — because at the same time, transport has become far more complex. Customers demand real-time updates, routes change at the last minute, and a single dispatcher is expected to hold it all together. What the industry is really missing is overview.
Millions of drivers are missing globally
According to the IRU — the world road transport organisation — the global shortage of truck drivers is already in the millions and is expected to grow significantly in the coming years. In Europe alone, hundreds of thousands of driver positions are unfilled. An ageing workforce and a declining interest among younger generations are accelerating the problem.
This means that the drivers who are available need to be used as efficiently as possible. Every wasted trip, every unnecessary detour, every avoidable delay costs more than it used to — because there simply is no slack in the system.
Customers expect real time — and it is felt in transport
The expectations of transport customers have changed fundamentally. Amazon, Wolt and Uber have accustomed consumers and businesses alike to knowing exactly where their delivery is and when it will arrive. That expectation has now moved into B2B freight transport as well.
Customers call to ask where their goods are. They expect proactive notification if something is delayed. They want documentation when the delivery has taken place. And when something goes wrong, they expect an immediate answer — not a callback the next morning.
For a haulier or dispatcher without the right tools, these demands translate directly into interruptions, stress and time spent on administration rather than planning.
One person holds it all together
In many transport companies — especially smaller owner-operated hauliers — it is one person who plans routes, dispatches drivers, handles customer enquiries, manages documentation and keeps track of what is going on across the entire fleet. Often that is the owner.
When everything lives in that one person's head, or spread across a combination of phone calls, WhatsApp messages and spreadsheets, the business becomes vulnerable. A single sick day, a busy period or an unexpected incident can tip the whole operation into chaos.
The problem is not a lack of skill or effort. The problem is a lack of structure — a lack of overview.
When overview disappears, mistakes become more expensive.
A structural challenge in European transport
The European Labour Authority and various national transport associations have documented that the transport sector faces a structural challenge: the combination of an ageing workforce, increasing regulatory requirements and growing complexity is putting pressure on companies that have not yet digitalised their operations.
Many of the companies that struggle most are not large logistics groups with dedicated IT departments. They are small and medium-sized hauliers — the backbone of European freight transport — who have grown their business on experience and relationships rather than systems and data.
For these companies, the gap between what is required of them and the tools they have available is widening. Digitalisation is no longer just a competitive advantage. For many, it is becoming a question of survival.
Perhaps the most overlooked challenge in modern transport
Much of the public debate about the transport sector focuses on driver shortages, CO2 requirements, toll charges and legislation. These are real and important challenges. But underlying many of them is a more fundamental problem that receives far less attention: the lack of operational overview.
Without overview, it is impossible to plan efficiently. Without efficient planning, empty running increases. Without control of empty running, costs rise. Without cost control, margins come under pressure. And with thin margins, there is no room to invest in the people or the systems that could improve the situation.
It is a cycle that many hauliers recognise — and that too few have the tools to break.
Technology as a tool — not yet another system
DORA TMS is built for exactly this challenge. Not as a large, complex enterprise system that requires months of implementation and a dedicated IT team to operate. But as a practical tool that gives the dispatcher — or the owner-driver — a clear overview of orders, routes, drivers and documentation in one place.
When orders, route planning, driver communication and customer documentation are gathered in a single system, something important happens: the business stops being dependent on one person's memory. Overview becomes structural rather than personal. And that makes the whole operation more robust — regardless of whether it is a quiet Tuesday or a hectic Monday morning with three drivers calling at once.
In an industry facing increasing pressure and fewer hands, overview can make all the difference.
