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Following is a question by the Hon Frankie Yick and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (December 5):
Question:
Some members of the logistics industry have reflected to me that, in recent years, the industry has encountered difficulties in recruiting young people to work as container truck drivers. Even though some trade associations are willing to offer free training to drivers and assist them in taking the container truck driving licence tests on the Mainland and in Hong Kong, few people are attracted to join the trade. Coupled with the fact that many in-service drivers are retiring one after another, there is a shortage of container truck drivers. Such a shortage of drivers has been more acute since the implementation of the Statutory Minimum Wage, as some drivers have changed jobs to work in industries offering more stable income. It has been reported that the average age of the in-service drivers is over 50 and the mainland authorities have stipulated that driving licences of heavy vehicle drivers aged over 60 will not be renewed. As a result, if the shortage of drivers cannot be alleviated within the short term, the development of Hong Kong's logistics industry will be seriously stifled, resulting in a gradual shift of container freight businesses to nearby mainland ports (such as Shenzhen's Yantian and Shekou, etc.). Besides, the completion and commissioning of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the new boundary control point at Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai in the future will further extend the cargo hinterland, but Hong Kong may not be able to benefit from this development due to the shortage of cross-boundary container truck drivers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether the authorities have conducted any study in the past three years on the manpower demand of the logistics industry; if so, of the details of the study, including the manpower shortage situation of the logistics industry and the assessment of the manpower demand in the coming five years, as well as the measures for increasing the number of container truck drivers to meet the needs of the logistics industry; if not, whether the authorities will consider conducting the study in order to formulate a long-term strategy for the development of manpower resources for the logistics industry;
(b) of the number of people enrolled in the courses provided under the Skills Upgrading Scheme in the past three years for the in-service cross-boundary container truck drivers; whether it will consider opening up such courses to admit people not belonging to the industry, so as to attract more people to change their jobs to work as cross-boundary container truck drivers; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(c) to alleviate the shortage of cross-boundary container truck drivers, whether the authorities will request the mainland authorities to relax the age threshold of 60 for renewal of heavy vehicle driving licences; if they will, of the details and progress; if not, the reasons for that; and
(d) having regard to the increasing demand by the logistics industry in Hong Kong for cross-boundary container truck drivers, of the short, medium and long term measures that the authorities will take to tackle the manpower shortage problem of the logistics industry; whether the authorities will reconsider permitting the logistics industry to import mainland drivers through the Supplementary Labour Scheme to alleviate the manpower shortage problem; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
Taking into account the comments of the Labour and Welfare Bureau, the consolidated reply to the various parts of the Hon Frankie Yick's question is as follows:
(a) and (d) Since 1982, the Transport Logistics Training Board under the Vocational Training Council has been conducting a survey and releasing a report every two years on the manpower situation and training needs of the transport logistics industry. The survey collects information from sampled companies in the industry through questionnaires. It covers ten major areas related to the transport logistics industry, including trucking and container haulage, air freight transport, sea freight transport and forwarding agents, etc.
According to the 2010 Manpower Survey Report, having regard to staff wastage and growth needs, it was estimated that the transport logistics industry needed to recruit some 4,000 new employees every year, of whom about 600 should have an education level of post-secondary or above. The other posts may be filled by people with an education level of Form 5 or below. The report pointed out that the number of fresh graduates in logistics-related disciplines with a post-secondary academic qualification is close to the number of new staff required. However, whether these graduates with post-secondary qualifications or above, as well as the graduates with an education attainment of senior-secondary or below, would be willing to join the transport logistics industry in the end would depend on the employment conditions of other jobs in the market and their personal preference. The 2012 report on Manpower Survey is expected to be released early next year. We will keep in view the findings of the report and take follow-up actions as appropriate.
As for the demand for cross-boundary container truck drivers, according to the record of the Transport Department (TD), over 42,000 people hold a valid driving licence for driving container trucks in Hong Kong. However, the current number of registered cross-boundary container truck drivers stands at about 4,700. It is believed that the difference is due to the personal choice of drivers and the better working and employment conditions offered by other industries. In order to encourage more people to join the cross-boundary container freight industry, the Administration will continue to closely liaise with the Mainland authorities so as to facilitate application of Hong Kong drivers for Mainland container truck driving licences. For example, the Shenzhen Vehicle Administration Office has set up a dedicated counter in September last year to handle applications for driving licences by Hong Kong drivers. It has also formulated guidelines, points-to-note and procedures on the application for driving licence by Hong Kong drivers for the reference of interested persons. Besides, employers in the industry may make use of the free service provided by the Labour Department to recruit staff and fill the vacancies of cross-boundary container truck drivers.
The TD will continue to maintain liaison with the industry and keep in view the industry's operating conditions as well as the demand for cross-boundary container truck drivers. It will review the industry's training needs in consultation with the trade, and liaise with the Employees Retraining Board (ERB) and relevant organisations on related matters so that ERB may offer relevant courses as appropriate to support the industry's long term development.
As regards the proposal to import Mainland drivers, since importing Mainland drivers may affect the local community and local drivers' livelihood, and as described above there are currently more than 40,000 holders with a valid driving licence for container trucks, the Administration currently has no plan to import Mainland drivers through the Supplementary Labour Scheme.
(b) With the exhaustion of the funding of the Skills Upgrading Scheme (SUS), the ERB has fully taken over the former SUS courses with market demand by launching the Skills Upgrading Scheme Plus (SUS Plus) since April 1, 2011. In 2012-13, 17 courses related to the cross-boundary container freight industry and related industries are offered under the SUS Plus. Not only in-service cross-boundary container truck drivers can enhance their employability and competitiveness by undertaking the courses, the ERB has also offered six of these courses to non-trade practitioners to help them join the industry. Between 2010-11 and 2012-13 (as at October 2012), a total of 421 persons have enrolled in the related courses offered under the original SUS or the ERB's SUS Plus.
(c) As stipulated by Mainland laws, people over the age of 60 are not allowed to drive container trucks. In response to the request of the industry, we have earlier on written to the Guangdong authorities, requesting them to consider relaxing the age limit of Hong Kong cross-boundary drivers applying for a Mainland driving licence to 65. The authorities replied that the requirement was stipulated under the Mainland national laws and could not be relaxed.
Ends/Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Issued at HKT 15:54
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