When a weary truck driver who had left Kita-Kyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, arrived at a destination in Hiroshima Prefecture, it was still before dawn. 

So the driver in his late 40s, who had been behind the wheel for 50 hours, would have to wait for the factory to open in the morning before he could unload the cargo.

He spotted a convenience store nearby that was equipped with a specialized parking space for trucks, so he pulled into the lot to wait and maybe catch some much-needed sleep by napping on the bed behind the driver’s seat.

But when he pulled in, he heard a rasping sound from behind: his rear bumper scraped against a ramp at the entrance.

“My vehicle was probably excessively loaded,” said the driver, recalling the accident in March last year. “The freight was brought in with a forklift, so it is difficult for me to estimate how heavy it actually was. I was too exhausted to be careful about that.”

The government’s guidelines on working conditions for truck drivers set out vehicle operators must “rest for 30 minutes once every four hours of driving” and that they can only be “on duty for a maximum of 16 hours daily.”

But the man said smaller delivery providers do not obey those rules.

“They rarely apply to subcontractors,” he said. “Freight owners frequently call my cellphone, asking me where I am running now and pressuring me to quickly transport goods.”

Truck drivers like him have scrambled every day to support Japan’s logistics system for more than two years amid the novel coronavirus crisis, burning the candle at both ends.

But they have increasingly found themselves plagued by prolonged working hours and low salaries as smaller operators vie for delivery offers, along with increasing fuel costs that are heaping on even more burden. And that has made a tough job even bumpier. 

This driver’s records show that after unloading his cargo in Hiroshima Prefecture, he continued driving on to Okayama, Mie, Gunma and Ibaraki prefectures.

He returned to his home in Aichi Prefecture early in the morning of the sixth day of his trip.

He has been driving mid-size to large trucks since his 20s. When the accident occurred, he was working for a small transport company near Nagoya. Now he works for another transit business in Aichi Prefecture, hauling goods at night for a monthly wage of 300,000 yen ($2,160).

But he “cannot save up money” with that salary, so he recently found a part-time day job at a distribution warehouse with an hourly wage.

He said his health has checked out so far, but he feels anxious about the future given his precarious work environment.

FUEL PRICES RISE AMID STIFF COMPETITION 

The intense competition truck drivers face stems from the restructuring of the transportation ecosystem back in the 1990s.

According to the transport ministry and other sources, regulations that were relaxed in 1990 caused a surge in delivery service providers nationwide. The number of providers reached 63,000 by fiscal 2007, up from 40,000 in fiscal 1990, and has remained level since.

Tiny, small and midsize enterprises with up to 300 employees account for more than 99 percent of them. They desperately vie for contracts, hobbling their ability to negotiate with clients over fees.

On top of that, commissions are deducted from their sales under subcontracts.

One fortysomething man who runs a transportation company with about 30 employees in Aichi Prefecture lamented the position smaller firms are in.

“Few freight owners pay fuel surcharges,” the president said. “Even starting fares are not set for trucks, unlike taxis.”

Truck drivers have come to routinely struggle with lower wages and tight time constraints.

Data compiled by the Japan Trucking Association based on government documents reveal the average annual income of drivers of large transport trucks was 4.54 million yen in 2020, which is 330,000 yen lower than the mean for all industries.

Their annual labor hours averaged 2,532 for 2020, 432 hours longer than the figure for all industries.

And skyrocketing fuel costs have dealt a fresh blow to truckers already struggling with intense competition.

The trucking firm president said surging gas prices are hitting them at a time when far fewer requests are coming in for deliveries of event-related materials.

Sports events and other festive occasions have been canceled one after another over the course of the last two years due to the pandemic.

Light oil consumption at the corporation comes to 30,000 liters each month. The purchase price for oil shot up to 127 yen per liter this past spring, 40 or so yen higher than two years earlier, despite a government subsidy.

This means fuel expenses were up 1.2 million yen monthly, according to the man.

Watching daily news reports about the weak yen and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the employer predicted the situation will become “increasingly harder.”

“Crude oil will not become cheaper anytime soon given the current circumstances, but goods are still waiting to be delivered,” he said. “Companies that fail to raise funds will go bankrupt because profits are being suppressed.”