The considerable benefit of hiring Non-EU Truck and Bus Drivers

If you work in road transport, you probably know that the European Union is experiencing a chronic shortage of professional truck and bus drivers.

According to industry estimates, thousands of driver positions remain unfilled across the EU, which leads to supply chain inefficiencies, rising costs, and service disruptions.

Although member states are investing in training programs to attract domestic workers, many employers are increasingly turning to non-EU drivers — and with good reason. Hiring from outside the EU often proves more cost-effective and sustainable in the long term.

The scarcity of drivers in the EU has created upward pressure on wages and benefits. Employers seeking to recruit locally often need to pay higher salaries, overtime premiums, and additional perks to attract candidates from a limited pool. Non-EU drivers, particularly from Asia, Africa or the Americas, are typically willing to work for competitive, but relatively low, wage packages compared to local counterparts. This wage differential allows employers to fill vacancies without exceeding their labour cost budget, keeping operations more financially viable.

EU workers often require significant training subsidies, retraining programs (return-to-driving), or licensing support to enter the transport sector. In contrast, many non-EU drivers already possess heavy vehicle licenses and often have international driving experience and language adaptability.

Programs such as The One Driver even provide pre-departure training in their home countries, tailored to EU standards. This reduces onboarding costs for employers, as they can integrate these drivers into the workforce faster and with less investment in skills development.

EU drivers frequently view transport work as unattractive due to long hours, time away from home, and the demanding schedules. This contributes to high turnover rates, forcing companies to spend repeatedly on recruitment, training, and admin processing.

Non-EU drivers, by contrast, often accept long-haul or irregular work as an opportunity for stable employment abroad. They are more likely to stay with an employer for several years too, maximising the return on recruitment and visa processing expenses.

Many EU countries have streamlined visa channels and bilateral agreements to facilitate the recruitment of foreign drivers. Employers can sometimes sponsor workers for fixed-term contracts, aligning labour supply with seasonal or cyclical demand. This flexibility reduces the risk of overstaffing during quieter periods while ensuring sufficient capacity during peak transport demand like Christmas.

Beyond direct wages, there are other hidden savings. Non-EU drivers often exhibit a strong work ethic, a willingness to take night shifts or long-haul routes, and lower rates of absenteeism. These factors translate into more predictable scheduling, fewer disruptions, and ultimately reduced operational costs for employers.

But while cost-effectiveness is a key driver of this hiring trend, it’s important for employers to balance efficiency with ethical labour practices. Non-EU drivers must be offered fair wages, decent working conditions, and adequate protections under EU law, and companies that exploit without safeguarding worker welfare risk reputational damage, legal penalties, and long-term workforce instability.

For EU employers, hiring non-EU professional truck and bus drivers provides a cost-effective solution to the current labour shortages. By reducing wage inflation, minimising training expenses, improving retention, and leveraging visa flexibility, businesses can stabilise their workforce and remain competitive in a challenging logistics landscape.

As the EU transport sector continues to grow, international recruitment will likely remain not only a practical option but also an essential one.

The One Driver program will help EU employers to find talented drivers from non-EU countries, and with expert assessment of practical and cognitive skills, driver profiling, up to 4 days' training inc. language support, plus visa and Driver CPC support, it will offer employers an essential A to Z service to ensure business continuity with the assurance of driver quality.

To find out more, visit theonedriver.org