Up to 4,000 heavy goods vehicle drivers are needed to deal with the massive demand for goods in Ireland, according to the Irish Road Haulage Association.
The group says the shortage of lorry drivers could cause a major risk to the supply of goods in the country.
Hauliers are already under pressure as the economy reopens and demand for goods increases, on top of the complications caused by Brexit.
They now say the Government needs to step up to address this crisis before demand overwhelms the service heading into Christmas.
Eugene Drennan, president of the IRHA, says the education system is leading young people away from the profession.
He said: "For many years, the points system has filtered the type of young chap who might come to us through third-level.
"There are a group of people who would normally like the challenge of truck driving and haven't filtered through."
He said the wages are good, but the "nightmare" of navigating through different ports is also pushing people away from the profession.
The staff shortages come as hauliers also navigate the complications of shipping post-Brexit and amid the ongoing pandemic complications.
The price of sea shipping in particular has soared over the past year, with the price of transporting goods on container ships have increased dramatically.
Paul Stewart, the managing director of My Baggage, told Down to Business the cost of sea, air and road transport.
He explained: "Containers going up has had a huge effect, with more stuff going by air or road. It all has a knock-on effect somewhere.
"We've been absorbing some prices ourselves... but we've actually had to increase prices recently, due to them being unsustainable.
"That will be passed on to businesses and then consumers, because you can't absorb it forever."
