The shortage of drivers continues to put pressure on transport companies, with those in charge now considering changes to the age limits for the professional license. One of the proposals under consultation is to increase the upper limit from 70 to 72 years.
In the draft of the amending bill, which was recently put to consultation, the Department of Road Transport clearly records the situation prevailing in the sector. As it is characteristically stated in the preamble, "efforts to find a sufficient number of professional drivers of both category "L" and category "F" in the Republic were fruitless". It is also noted that "it is necessary to immediately staff businesses that transport passengers and goods with professional drivers".
The proposed change concerns Article 6 of the Basic Law and provides that the person interested in a professional license should have reached the age of 21, but not 72 years of age. In this way, an attempt is made to enable older professional drivers to remain active in the labour market for a longer period of time.
The problem is pan-European
The shortage of professional drivers is not exclusively a Cypriot phenomenon, but is observed more broadly at the European level.
According to the TOM, data and information have been obtained from companies operating in the transport sector and from this it appears that there is a real difficulty in finding professional drivers.
At the same time, according to information, there are also thoughts of lowering the minimum age limit, so that younger people can enter the profession earlier. Today the minimum age for driving a truck is 21 years old, while for a bus it is 24.
What about medical check-ups?
The proposed increase in the age limit to 72 years also brings to the fore the issue of medical checks for older drivers. According to a TOM official, there is already a stricter control framework for those over the age of 65, as, as he mentioned, "they undergo a series of tests".
He stated that "about five to six doctors of different specialties are involved in the process, in order to determine whether the interested party is still medically fit to practice the profession".
When asked whether the frequency of the examinations for obtaining a professional driver's license is considered sufficient, in order to meet the increased needs and for more candidates to be able to secure a license, the competent officer answered positively. "It has increased. They can be carried out up to four times a year"
The suspension of PameExpress
Indicative of the situation in the industry is the fact that last March Cyprus Public Transport had announced its intention to suspend the Pame Express service in Nicosia, citing a serious shortage of drivers. The company had then reported that, in order to fully meet its needs and routes, it needed an additional 50 to 70 drivers, while it had also attributed part of the problem to the existing legislative framework for the recruitment of professional drivers.
