Immigration Japan’s truck driver shortage triggers hiring push in Vietnam and Indonesia

Have Takaichi, Onoda, et.al. approved this?

Japanese logistics companies are increasingly hiring foreign truck drivers to deal with a growing labour shortage. The move has raised some safety concerns and brought the country closer to a projected total of 20,000 non-Japanese drivers on its roads. Nakano Shokai, a mid-sized company within the Yamato Holdings group, shows how serious the pressure has become. At its Atsugi office in Kanagawa Prefecture, staff routinely decline up to 10 delivery requests a day because roughly 10 driver positions remain unfilled. Demand continues to outpace the available workforce, and recruitment has struggled to keep pace.

An executive at the company said the shortage has worsened significantly over the past year and a half. There are plans to hire more drivers, but there is no clear schedule to fill the open positions, creating increasing pressure on management. Industry data also show a long-term decline in the workforce. Nomura Research Institute estimates that Japan had about 660,000 truck drivers in fiscal 2020, down from around 820,000 in fiscal 2000. By fiscal 2030, the shortfall could reach 270,000 drivers, leaving an estimated 36% of parcels undelivered.

The pressure is felt across the logistics sector rather than in isolated companies. Demographic decline has steadily reduced the pool of working-age labour. At the same time, tighter rules on driver overtime have further constrained capacity, compounding a shortage that many operators now view as structural rather than temporary.

In a Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry survey last year of approximately 2,300 companies that sought to ship goods, 10% said that they have had their orders refused. Manpower allocation is particularly difficult for long-distance, large-volume routes. With tighter overtime restrictions, "two drivers are now needed to transport loads between Osaka and Kyushu, which previously required one driver," said the president of logistics company Futaba Transportation. To alleviate the labor crunch, the industry is pinning its hopes on foreign drivers. The government anticipates accepting 22,100 workers in the automobile transportation industry by March 2029 under the "specified skilled worker" program. Comparing the figure to Japan's convenience store industry, which has been hiring foreigners for years, the number is not far from the 28,000 foreign workers employed by major chain FamilyMart.

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With foreign employees requiring more training than Japanese drivers, companies are bolstering their efforts. Nakano Shokai created a guidebook for the license test and an explanation of driving habits unique to Japan. For example, while drivers in Vietnam use their horns often, the company is instructing them to only honk when it's truly dangerous. They also teach drivers about rules such as pedestrians and oncoming vehicles having priority over vehicles making a right turn.

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Paywall alert:

I've never seen a foreign truck driver, but we did have a member here that was a foreigner and drove a truck for a Japanese company.

musicisgood said:

I've never seen a foreign truck driver, but we did have a member here that was a foreigner and drove a truck for a Japanese company.

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Yes, that was @Mike Cash. Meanwhile, I have seen several foreign truck drivers on my commutes, some even operating caterpillars and diggers on construction sites.

thomas said:

Yes, that was @Mike Cash. Meanwhile, I have seen several foreign truck drivers on my commutes, some even operating caterpillars and diggers on construction sites.

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In Yamaguchi I haven't seen that. Must be short haulers around the big cities. As a cyclist, I stop at truck stops and really have NEVER seen a long distance foreign truck driver from Yamaguchi to Tottori along the stops.

You might be right about long hauliers. I think Mike could have been considered a long-haulier, as he operated mainly between Gunma and Shinagawa Port, if I remember correctly.

How does Amazon deliver packages in Japan? In the U.S. they've mostly taken over their own deliveries using a combination of their own fleet and workers, contract companies as well as gig workers.