Volvo Group Australia, president, Peter Voorhoeve, a frequent visitor to these pages in recent times, is calling on transport operators to partake in a brief 10 minute survey as part of the Swedish company’s initiative to analyse and work with the industry on the dire lack of driver availability in this country
The program is Peter Voorhoeve’s baby and he is driving the survey to ensure that they can get tot eh facts in order to help the industry attack the problem. In what is a personal request from Voorhoeve he is asking people in the industry to engage in the on-line survey which will take about 10 minutes and will enable the company to formulate the group’s report into the issue. The survey needs to be completed by April 26.
Peter Voorhoeve has written an open letter requesting this co-operation, and we have published it below.
“It has been two and a half years since I arrived in Australia to become the President of Volvo Group Australia. During this time I’ve become increasingly aware that transport operators may soon face a qualified driver shortage – especially given that the transport task is predicted to double between 2010 – 2030.
With an ageing driver population, if this statistic proves to be correct, the shortage of qualified drivers will not only affect transport operators, but also Australian society in general. Without drivers who will transport fruit, vegetables, general freight, mail etc to ensure they eventually arrive in family homes?
I have commissioned a study to understand the extent of this problem and to explore what could be done to assist with this. I would value your personal contribution to this study – which will take just 10 minutes of your time. The link to the survey is here: http://goo.gl/3bAUzb
It’s important to me that my communications to the broader community, and any actions that we take, are truly representative of the Australian transport community.
So I am appealing for your help – to ensure that your experiences and your ideas are reflected in this study.
The full report will be presented at the annual Volvo Group Australia Media Conference in the first week of May.
Please can you complete this survey before next Tuesday, 26 April.
Best regards
Peter Voorhoeve
President & CEO – Volvo Group Australia
Truckandbus.net.au urges all people in the industry to engage in the survey and help better equip the transport sector to address the challenge of finding enough drivers to handle the growing freight task in this country.