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In order to counter ever-worsening labor shortages in Japan's transportation
industry, there is a need to wrestle with fullfledged countermeasures, including
the securing of workforce on long-term perspectives, in consideration also of
the future aging of the population and deceleration of the increase rate of
the working population (Fig.22).
(1) Measures for the Transportation Industry to Take to Cope with Labor
Short-ages
1) In order to counter labor shortages in the transportation industry, it
is necessary for various enterprises in the industry to a) create attractive
workplaces by improving working conditions and the working environment, to b)
fully use elderly people and women by developing the working environment and
other conditions which can give full play to their abilities, and to c) rationalize
loading and unloading operations, improve working systems, and promote the efficiency
and labor-saving of general forwarding operations, etc. (Table
4).
2) Promotion of Modal Shifts
In order to address problems such as safety, air pollution and energy consumption
which arise from transportation by automobiles, and to secure, at the same time,
a stable transportation capacity, it is necessary for the transportation industry
as a whole not only to secure workforce but also to promote measures to ensure
the smooth utilization of railways and ships which are efficient mass transport
systems. It is no less important to promote modal shifts for trucking services
on trunk roads.
To this end, there is a need to promote the dissemination of railway containers
and special trucks for piggyback service, and also to push efforts to call on
the industrial circles concerned, including consignors, to cooperate in the
furtherance of modal shifts. In addition, it is important to improve infrastructures
which are indispensable to modal shifts, by stepping up the JR transportation
capacity of freights and promoting the improvement of coastal containerships.
(2) Indispensable Understanding and Cooperation of Users
Because transport services are labor-intensive, the implementation of measures
by transport business operators to secure manpower can basically lead to cost
upswings and, in some cases, eventually compel them to raise the freight rate
and service charges to cover the cost increases. Therefore, in order to offer
stable transport services to users, transport business operators should make
rationalization efforts. It is imperative, however, for them to seek the understanding
and cooperation of users in the appropriate burden sharing of higher costs to
secure workforce.
Again, with regard to the present transport systems, the transportation
industry is urged to study the possibility of introducing new formulas based
on due regard for the prevailing labor shortages. Furthermore, there is a need
for the transportation industry to seek users' understanding and cooperation
in effectively promoting modal shifts.
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