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More than 100,000 professional drivers run the risk of not being allowed to drive freight for six months. Corona infection stops required skills training and now employers are calling on the government to act.
Thousands of truck drivers are at risk of not being allowed to drive as the corona pandemic halts vocational training. Stock Photography.
– This problem is urgent, says Caj Luoma, head of skills supply at the employers’ organization Transportföretagen.
During the corona pandemic, the need for food transportation, drug transportation, and electronic commerce became apparent. To be able to handle such heavy transports, a certificate of professional competence (YKB) is required, which must be renewed every five years through a five-day training.
But after infection rates rose, organizations and private actors offering the education canceled their courses. Among other things, actors such as the Swedish transport company and Tya, which is owned by the Swedish Transport Workers’ Union, among others, have withdrawn their training opportunities. Education requires physical presence.
This has meant that up to 105,000 professional drivers, mostly freight transporters, still cannot renew their certificates of professional competence, which expire in May next year.
If they are not allowed to renew their certificates, in practice they will be banned from driving, says Transportföretagen’s Caj Louma.
Last summer, the European Parliament adopted a regulation that extends the validity period of professional qualifications in the EU by seven months, which expired between February 1 and August 31, 2020. The measure was taken precisely in the face of difficult circumstances brought about by the corona pandemic. But now the problem has become urgent again, according to Transportföretagen. Thousands of drivers in Sweden risk a driving ban before Christmas.
The reason so many professional drivers risk getting out of the truck right now is that a bulge has formed in the system. When the YKB training regulations were introduced, the certificate was valid for Swedish drivers for a period of seven years, which ended in 2016. Subsequently, a period of five years was introduced, which therefore expires in 2021.
– For this reason, there are many professional drivers who have to face their last days at YKB. That is why the volumes are so large and collide with this pandemic, says Caj Luoma.
The Maserfrakt transport company operates around 750 trucks in Dalarna and Gävleborg and also trains professional drivers at its facilities. In the spring, they canceled their YKB studios to reopen in September. But then, on Monday, they again canceled training following news of new restrictions.
– If we have a training for a carrier with 15 drivers and we have a spread of the infection, it could mean bankruptcy for the carrier, says Martin Johansson, Maserfrakt development coordinator.
Until the new year, the company has 100 people who need to complete their higher education, and in the coming year there will be even more. A driving ban for drivers would spell a major problem for supplying food to nursing homes, schools and other activities in, for example, Borlänge, says Martin Johansson.
– It is a big problem if we do not get any type of exemption or extension of the exemption that exists today. We can face disaster.
Despite the exemption, some drivers’ certificates of competency have already expired.
– The question is what happens, do you drive anyway and try to avoid the police? You are committing a crime, says Martin Johansson, noting that the government must now act quickly.
Transportation companies want politicians to take into account that the pandemic will affect society for a long time and they want to see a new exemption that runs until the end of 2021.
In a written comment to TT, Infrastructure Minister Tomas Eneroth (S) says that the government takes the problem that has arisen with YKB’s education very seriously. There is pressure within the EU for an extension of the so-called omnibus regulation.
“The government has signaled to the European Commission that the need for an extension is great and urgent. The government is pursuing the issue and is prepared to take further action, if necessary. We are eager to find a solution, ”Eneroth writes.
