Europe’s truck driving industry is becoming heavily reliant on migrant labor as a chronic driver shortage forces companies across the European Union to expand recruitment far beyond its borders. Migrant workers hired from across the globe, however, face increased risks of exploitation and some end up trapped in debt, according to the latest reports from Trans.Info, an information service provider about the transport, freight and logistics industry in Europe, run by a Poland-based company.

Transport operators in countries such as Spain, Germany and Lithuania are increasingly sourcing drivers from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Turkey, West and Central Africa, as well as other parts of Asia and Latin America, with recruitment now organized through long-term international "pipeline" systems that screen, train and certify workers before relocation, according to Trans.Info.

Rather than short-term hiring, logistics firms are building structured recruitment channels that prepare drivers abroad through language training, licensing processes and compliance with EU working-time rules. Migrant drivers are now being described as a structural backbone of European freight transport, with some companies heavily dependent on non-EU staff. Governments are also formalizing cross-border recruitment agreements to sustain supply chains. However, the rapid expansion of this global labor model has raised growing concerns about worker vulnerability.

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Migrant truck drivers in Lithuania trapped in exploitative 'debt-based' systems

In Lithuania, where transport companies reportedly hired more than 25,000 drivers from third countries in 2025 alone, authorities and trade unions have warned that some migrant drivers face debt-based recruitment systems and exploitative conditions, Trans.Info reported. Workers are said to typically pay intermediaries thousands of euros upfront and then become financially dependent on employers after arrival, while reports of wage deductions, withheld documents and restricted mobility have emerged in parts of the industry.

Investigators have suggested these practices may point to systemic issues rather than isolated cases, even as industry representatives argue that most companies comply with regulations and that the sector’s scale requires migrant labor to function.

But exploitation of migrant workers in the transport industry is nothing new. An earlier case in the Netherlands involving a driver from Tajikistan employed by a Lithuanian transport company operated in precarity amid complex subcontracting chains. According to a report from the European Transport Safety Council, the man, after being recruited, reportedly spent months driving across Europe while living in his truck and not receiving his agreed wages, despite EU rules requiring proper rest conditions and timely pay. He later stopped his vehicle in protest and initiated legal proceedings to recover unpaid wages, with trade union support.

The case highlights broader structural challenges in European logistics, where migrant drivers are often employed through companies registered in one country but working across several others. According to the European Transport Safety Council, layered subcontracting and "posted worker" arrangements can make it difficult to assign responsibility and enforce labor rights, leaving migrant drivers reliant on legal action and union intervention to assert basic protections.

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