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Date Published: 26/11/2021
ARCHIVED - Murcia transport industry recovers ahead of much of Spain
Some 1,569 new truck driver contracts were signed in the Region of Murcia in October
The transport sector in Spain has been hit hard in recent months: cargo has become more expensive to transport, the prices of petrol and diesel are continually rising, while truckers are threatening to go on strike right before Christmas. But there is some light at the end of the tunnel, as Murcia has signed more truck driver contracts than most of the rest of Spain.
The Ministry of Labour has reported that 1,569 salaried truck drivers were taken on in October, a promising 34.45% increase on September, although still down 6.8% on the same month last year. Only three provinces are ahead of Murcia in terms of new trucker contracts: Almeria, Valencia and Madrid.
The improvement, while welcome, has not come as much of a surprise, as October and November are traditionally good months for truck drivers, possibly due to an increase in demand in the lead-up to the festive season. Encouragingly, there are now just 749 Murcianos looking for professional truck driving work, which is a decrease of 9.9% on September and a significant 24% less than last year.
Regardless of the positive figures, truckers in Murcia are facing unprecedented hard times, with increased waiting times and complex paperwork post-Brexit forcing many small fruit and vegetable transporters to pull out of the UK market altogether.
Brexit aside, within Spain itself, the general secretary of the Regional Federation of the Organisations and Transport Companies of Murcia (Froet) has listed several other concerns of commercial transport companies: the imminent introduction of charges for road use, runaway inflation, an increase in prices and a lack of drivers, due largely to “the precarious conditions that [they] are forced to suffer”.
So, despite the increase in the number of trucker contracts, it looks as though the pre-Christmas strike will go ahead, as the Federation believes that the central administration has completely “abandoned” the sector. "Only a radical and urgent change on the part of the Government and clients could avoid this conflict".
Image: Archive
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