Russian transportation companies face a “catastrophic shortage” of drivers of trucks weighing more than 3.5 tons, according to Vadim Filatov from the logistics services operator PEC.

Over the past five years the shortage has grown from 15% to 21%, he told Vedomosti newspaper on Wednesday. To put it into numbers, the industry needs roughly 60,000 more drivers, Filatov said. The shortage in his own company amounts to about 5% of the force of full-time truck drivers, lamented the executive.

Filatov blamed the situation on shortcomings in education, low prestige of the profession, and the fact that long-distance truck drivers have to spend weeks away from their families.

PEC is a leading logistics company in Russia that serves more than 4.5 million clients a year and delivers goods to a wide range of destinations abroad.

A number of other transport companies have also reported the same issue to Vedomosti, the publication writes.

A pilot project was launched in June to test self-driving trucks between Moscow and St. Petersburg. The vehicles are accompanied by test engineers, but, according to the government, the plan is for fully unmanned trucks to hit the road within two to three years.

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