Israel's Transport Sector Faces Truck Driver Shortage Amid Bureaucratic Delays

During a meeting of the Special Committee for Foreign Workers, chaired by MK Eliyahu Ribibo, Gaby Ben-Harush, Chairman of The Israeli Council of Carriers and Transporters, addressed the shortage of truck drivers and the need to bring foreign drivers into the industry.

According to him, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other government ministries are involved in the issue of importing foreign workers, but the Ministry of Transport is the only one not involved. In the past, Avner Flor, head of the Infrastructure Planning and Development Department at the Ministry of Transport, submitted a document to this committee recommending the import of 3,500 drivers. The committee chairman forwarded it to a decision-making committee so that the Minister of Transport could approve this proposal, but the minister did nothing about it.

Ben-Harush pointed out that the driver shortage is even more severe in the dangerous goods transport sector due to the ongoing failure of the cargo department at the Ministry of Transport. This department has been delaying hazardous materials licenses for many months, thereby sidelining dozens of drivers.

Ben-Harush told the committee that there are about 6,500 hazardous materials drivers in the country and currently about 40% of these drivers are sitting at home and not working due to the delays of the Ministry of Transport. Therefore, it is a matter of a month until hospitals, hotels, and industrial factories stop receiving fuel and gas supplies.

The committee chairman, MK Eliyahu Ribibo, said he is aware of the problem and asked representatives of the Ministry of Transport for their response. The ministry's representatives said they came unprepared and had no answer.

During the committee meeting, Ben-Harush noted that it is an absurdity that the Ministry of Transport, on the one hand, wants to import drivers due to the shortage and, on the other hand, is sidelining hundreds of hazardous materials drivers, thereby exacerbating the driver shortage. The ministry's representatives come to the committee without an answer to such an acute issue, so why did they even come to the committee?

The committee chairman, MK Eliyahu Ribibo, requested an urgent meeting with the Ministry of Transport, with the participation of representatives of the The Israeli Council of Carriers and Transporters and his participation.