July 31, 2026 - Europe is currently short of more than 502,000 professional truck drivers in road freight transport. In addition, around 660,000 more drivers are expected to retire by 2030. These figures come from the latest Global Driver Shortage Report by the International Road Transport Union (IRU).
In Europe, most of the transport companies surveyed identify the driver shortage as their greatest concern - well ahead of operating costs, the economic environment, decarbonization, and digitalization. And according to the IRU, this bottleneck is increasingly developing independently of the usual fluctuations in the transport market.
The consequences are severe. Around 65 percent of companies in Europe have to turn down new transport orders because they lack staff. The industry is struggling to attract young talent. And the demographic time bomb is ticking: a large share of active drivers is over 55, and by 2030, hundreds of thousands more truck drivers will retire.
A network that secures capacity
System Alliance Europe (SAE) is responding to the current challenges facing the transport industry in Europe with its 2030 strategy: instead of further expansion, the focus is on deeper cooperation among its now 54 member companies in 33 countries. The aim is to significantly improve the quality and reliability of Europe-wide groupage and full-load transport by 2030 - and in doing so, to better prepare for problems that could arise, among other things, from a driver shortage.
"The network is focusing on connectivity rather than size," explains SAE Chairman of the Board Tassilo Schneider. A key foundation for this is the new SAE LogWorld IT and data platform, which enables standardized processes and greater transparency. "Where individual players reach their limits, the quality alliance creates economies of scale that meet growing challenges and secure capacity," says Schneider.
Structures that provide planning reliability
Real-time information, AI-supported processes, seamless connectivity, and consistent standards: many building blocks help ensure that transport capacity can be planned and utilized as effectively as possible. This also includes a closed freight exchange available to SAE members. This approach is complemented by stable partnership structures that provide member companies and customers with greater planning and supply reliability in a volatile market environment.
With 46,000 employees and 170 branches in 33 European countries, SAE is the largest groupage cooperation network on the continent and is positioning itself exactly where the sector's pressing questions in 2026 must be solved: in the cooperative collaboration of independent, owner-managed companies.
