Driver shortage and Platooning

Driver Shortage and Platooning

On December 29, 2025, the Federal Association of Road Haulage, Logistics, and Waste Disposal (BGL) told Reuters that the logistics sector is facing a growing driver shortage. Germany currently lacks around 120,000 truck drivers, a development that threatens to become a major constraint on growth in the logistics industry. Across the EU, approximately 426,000 driver positions were unfilled in 2024; without countermeasures, the shortage could rise to 745,000 drivers by 2028 (source: International Road Transport Union). Worldwide, the IRU expects a shortage of more than 7 million drivers by 2028, with significant implications for supply chains and economic stability.

Against this backdrop, the following thesis applies: Truck platooning makes it possible to increase transport capacity without remaining strictly tied to the traditional “1 driver = 1 truck” ratio.

Today, the driver shortage has a linear effect: every missing driver directly reduces transport capacity. Platooning addresses this constraint by connecting vehicles into coordinated systems and scaling driver effectiveness at the system level. The decisive advantage therefore lies not in the individual vehicle, but in the systemic organization of routes, schedules, and vehicle networks.

An additional positive effect of truck platooning is the reduction of aerodynamic drag within vehicle convoys, which lowers energy consumption as well as CO₂ and pollutant emissions.

Real-world truck platooning trials are currently continuing, particularly in the United States. These developments support the thesis that truck platooning can function as a systemic productivity lever precisely where the driver shortage constrains transport capacity.

March 2026