SAITAMA, Japan — For truck driver Toshiya Kajiyama, strict curbs on trucker overtime ordered by Japan’s government starting in April next year are a 2024 problem with a silver lining.
The restrictions, aimed at alleviating an acute driver shortage in aging Japan by making trucking less arduous, pushed the 43-year-old into quitting a job that required up to 15-hour shifts, six or even seven days a week. Now he drives for a different employer, with shorter working days and weekends off.