Delivery driver shortage to plague Black Friday and Christmas period

As the busiest retail day of the year commences, and Australians move increasingly to online shopping, staffing shortages in the logistics sector mean that Christmas may come late for many this year.

The ‘Delivery Delays’ Report‘, by retail communications specialist Esendex, analysed data from job board Indeed to calculate the vacancy rate of the most common delivery job titles, and pinpoint the territories most at risk of delivery delays in the final month of the year.

The report found 3,000 vacancies for delivery driver roles, and 900 job openings for ‘picker packer’. The National Road Transport Association (NatRoad) has noted a critical driver shortage of 14.4% across the trucking sector, which dwarfs the national job vacancy rate of 5-6%.