[1/5] Delivery trucks are parked at a parking area along the highway in Chiba, east of Tokyo, Japan April 6, 2023. On April 1, 2024, the government will limit truck drivers' annual overtime to 960 hours, among other reforms officials say are meant to improve the job's notoriously gruelling conditions and make it more attractive. The global consultancy Roland Berger expects a 20% decline in the number of Japanese truck drivers in the decade to 2030. Fierce competition and high fuel prices mean truck drivers are squeezed too despite an acute labour shortage. That would make it difficult for small companies to hire to make up for the lower number of legal working hours per driver.

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