Posted on 11/15/2012 5:00:49 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Experts are warning of a coming crisis: a shortage of truck drivers.
The Associated Press reports demand is so high that more than 100,000 trucking jobs are expected to go unfilled each year through 2016.
Mohammed Khan, the Director of the Great American Truck Driving School in Detroit told WWJ’s Sandra McNeil he’s seen a 50-percent jump in enrollment at his school since 2010.
“People do want to become truck drivers. The fact is that the demand just ups the supply right now,” said Khan. ”There are a lot of truck driving jobs that are wanting because they just can’t find enough people. And our school has gotten very busy over the past two years.”
Khan said recruiters are looking for someone with a brain.
“They want somebody who can think. It’s not just a dumb job anymore. There are a lot of computers and a lot of statistics to know … which path to take. They want thinkers,” Khan said.
Khan’s school’s four-week course draws the interest of people from all walks of life. He’s recently seen some former Detroit police offices go through the program. About one of five of his students are women.
Khan said mature folks looking for a new career are always welcome but everyone must be able to pass a federally required physical...
(Excerpt) Read more at truckersamerica.com ...
Just sayin', in case some enterprising young reader is looking for a direction to try.
Still one of my retirement dreams. As long as I don’t need the money, trucking can be a lot of fun.
At first glance I thought maybe this was a Windows 8 thread.
How about employer PAID full training (Heaven forbid) for complete training and assistance in getting the CDL... to become qualified... All talk and no action as I see it... Getting a CDL when you have little money from being out of work is not a piece of cake... This total baloney public consumption - PR BS piece by EMPLOYERS is old hat... I just want to SPIT everytime I hear this clap trap... There are a zillion people out here (16 Million unemployed) who would LOVE an employer to pay for trainng - BUT NOT ... These cheapskate employers just want to complain and never recognize the truth of the matter...
I just love these threads. The romance of the open road and all that. LOL
Apparently most people in Detroit can’t drive. Isn’t that ironic? /s
Don’t worry, illegal aliens will fill the void, courtesy of the democratic party and RINOs.
SFL
I’ve talked to a few guys who say the industry has been ruined by the big players. They’ve bought up a lot of the competition then either muscled out or got regulations that shut down a lot of smaller players.
Just laying the groundwork for mexican truckers driving the trucks Americans don’t want to drive
Mohammed Khan doesn’t care if the jobs are filled or not. His primary interest is to get those checks to his truck driving school.
There was another truck driving school in Detroit that was shut down a while back for handing out HAZMAT certifications to illegals.
I think you either love it or hate it. I worked for a while where I was talking to drivers all the time and I think you have to be a certain type who enjoys driving because you drive more in a month than the average person does in a year. I had one cousin who died very young, just past forty, with brain cancer and his casket was carried on the back of a road tractor in the funeral procession. He had absolutely loved the job, wouldn’t have done anything else once he tried it. As for myself I don’t think there is any way I could ever have been a long haul driver, I get groggy after two or three days of driving all day long. I drove a switch tractor for a while just backing the trailers into the dock and pulling them back out, so I can say I have pulled loads but I never got off the company property. I averaged about one hundred yards between hook and drop.
I might as well go ahead and give this a try. Lord knows my degree hasn’t paid off.
I owned my own truck and had my own authority. The regs have pretty much taken the money out of it and if you drive for one of the big companies forget about the “freedom” or the “good money”. Sold my truck back in ’06 and wouldn’t consider ever doing it again because of the government controls.
Long haul trucking is a very marginally profitable business (for the companies).
They have been dying for drivers for some time.
Finding qualified (or even minimally qualified) people without DUIs is very difficult. Yep, not having a DUI on your record is now a job skill.
My wife works for a small long haul company. The per mile pay for hauling is awful. Government regs are beyond crushing.
Do you know if they send a truck through several states, they have to report the mileage traveled in each state, to each state, and pay fuel taxes based on that mileage. Don’t have to have bought any fuel in any of the states they drove in.
Sounds to me that you have driven more miles backing up than most regular short haulers have forwards.
Shortages of drivers, pilots, physicians, engineers, nurses, child care providers, and in so many other areas, plus a massive shortage of jobs? It’s amazing how effectively Obama has delivered on the “change” he promised.
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