TOKYO -- Lion, Unicharm and eight other of the largest makers and wholesalers of daily goods in Japan will join hands in a grand logistics alliance designed to reduce the long working hours of truck drivers and steal a march on a pending shortage of such drivers.
The Japanese government in April will begin enforcing an annual cap of 960 overtime hours for truck drivers. The regulation will likely force logistics companies to increase the number of drivers to carry the same amount of freight they currently handle. According to Nomura Research Institute in Tokyo, 35% of the nation's cargo could face not being picked up due to a lack of drivers by 2030.
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