The state of van driving in Europe and the UK: major report for fleet businesses

Read our exclusive research on the challenges faced by van drivers and see how better driver support is helping fleets maximise productivity.

Download the full report⁠

Read our exclusive research on the challenges faced by van drivers and see how better driver support is helping fleets maximise productivity.

Download the full report⁠

In the European Van Driver Report, Webfleet brings together exclusive insights from nearly 1000 van drivers across Europe to paint a picture of the van driver’s view of the work they do, the problems they encounter and the support they need.

The biggest finding of all: by solving the challenges faced by your drivers, you can solve the challenges faced by your business too.

44%

of European van drivers want better road safety more than any other possible improvement

68%

of European van drivers find traffic congestion either extremely challenging or challenging

33%

of European van drivers on average use the marketing leading driver support solutions we mentioned

Safety on the road is critically serious for van drivers

When we asked European van drivers what would make their jobs better, ‘Increased road safety’ was the most common answer. Elsewhere they ranked ‘Getting home safe’ as the second most important thing related to their jobs.

There is a move in the right direction, with a 10% decrease in road fatalities in Europe since 2019. Yet our research shows both fleet managers and van drivers remain extremely concerned about safety.

While it’s clear that both businesses and drivers want a safer working day, most van drivers work without leading technology designed to increase road safety such as professional navigation, driver coaching or AI-enabled dashcams.

Get the full report

All the insights from Europe and your country in this in-depth, insightful and actionable eBook.

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Though this report contains a broad range of findings, two points in particular stand out. Firstly, the biggest challenges faced by van drivers seem to be consistent from country-to-country. In most regions, road safety, traffic congestion, parking and road infrastructure came up repeatedly.

Secondly, while the majority of van drivers say they want a more digitised workflow, they have limited access to advanced solutions that could help them deal with those challenges mentioned above.

Drivers are ready for a more digitised workflow

Drivers tell us that they have limited access to digital solutions designed to help them stay safe, avoid traffic or improve performance.

Of our long list of potential solutions none were used by more than 50% of drivers. On average, solutions were used by just 33% of the sample.

The drivers go on to state a clear desire to get more support from these solutions. Asked to rate how much they would want to use each possible solution, in every case the majority said they would like to. This goes against a common misconception that drivers are often resistant to new technology.

70%

of van drivers that don't have access to the solution would like to use advanced tyre solutions

73%

of van drivers that don't have access to the solution would like to use professional navigation

69%

of van drivers that don't have access to the solution would like to use solutions that calculate and share ETAs in real-time

Key findings from your country

The full report also dives into the specific results from each of the countries in which our research took place – France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The variations from country-to-country are important to note.

Better road infrastructure is the improvement French van drivers would most like to see.
77% of French van drivers say they find traffic congestion either extremely challenging or challenging.

German van drivers seem to be OK with the factors that are within the business’ control such as communicating with customers, paperwork and managing ETAs.
However, things that happen on the road like traffic, parking and safety remain big challenges.

Italian drivers are notably concerned with doing a good job, with 57% saying it’s the most important thing for them.
In Italy, completing paperwork appears to be more difficult than other countries, with 64% of drivers ranking it highly as a challenge.

Poland is one of the countries where van driving appears to be most difficult, with all ten potential challenges discussed rated highly challenging by Polish drivers.
Polish drivers are also the most likely to want more support from digital solutions. For example, 89% of the drivers that don’t use professional navigation say they want to do so.

Spain is one of the countries where meeting deadlines and ETAs is seen as most challenging.
Spanish van drivers are significant for how highly they prioritise doing their work well.

Dutch drivers show some of the biggest differences in opinion when compared against the rest of Europe.
For example, while traffic and job security seem to be less of a concern in the Netherlands, many Dutch drivers do want more time to concentrate on their core job.

Van drivers in the UK put significant importance on building strong customer relationships.
Traffic, parking and safety are all considered highly challenging factors for UK drivers.