Posted on 09/13/2019 1:02:11 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
In 2018, the trucking industry was short roughly 60,800 drivers – up nearly 20% from 2017’s figure of 50,700. If current trends hold, the American Trucking Association (ATA) says the shortage could rise to more than 160,000 by 2028.
The driver shortage is a problem for the entire supply chain, as 71.4% of all freight tonnage is moved on the nation’s highways, ATA says in its Truck Driver Shortage Analysis 2019 report.
“The increase in the driver shortage should be a warning to carriers, shippers and policymakers, because if conditions don’t change substantively, our industry could be short just over 100,000 drivers in five years and 160,000 drivers in 2028,” ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said in a news release announcing the report.
To meet the U.S. demand, the trucking industry must hire roughly 1.1 million new drivers, or an average of nearly 110,000 per year, to replace retiring drivers and keep on pace with the growth in the economy.
(Excerpt) Read more at agprofessional.com ...
DARPA was working on automated follower trucks for the Army.
Fixed it.
Raise the pay. Econ 101.
That said I’ll bet in 10-15 years there will be a driver SURPLUS as autonomous cars/trucks take over the road.
Thanks to the hassles brought by government regulation, the job doesn’t pay enough.
This country is way too litigious for driverless vehicles.
Yep. It’s about pay vs ACTUAL time spent.
Pretty funny. The reason is pretty much obvious to anyone paying attention. Well, at least to us three. :)
This country is way too litigious for driverless vehicles.
I think those driverless trucks will take such technology to the next level.
“Raise the pay. Econ 101.”
Yup. I have no idea what truckers get paid now, but pay more, any you will draw new drivers to your companies. Hopefully, this won’t be used as an excuse to import more immigrants.
Too many kids are in college getting worthless degrees. Go to truck driving school, instead, or get into a skilled trade. There’s all kinds of training available, and the need is there.
This has been a trend for decades. Young people don’t want the nomadic, hardly at home lifestyle demanded of truck drivers.
During the W administration the Schneider company had planned to bring in thousands of drivers from INDIA to make up for the shortfall. India of all places! Imagine the mayhem.
Rail isn’t the option some think it to be. The argument for trucks is flexibility and efficiency. Rail has a part to play but will never replace trucks.
Increasing pay is probably the only way to address the driver shortage.
More Mexican Drivers, that’ll solve everything. /s
Really? Walmart was hiring drivers for $80,000 a year one month ago.
I like to watch crash video compilations.
Especially the “Can Opener” (11foot8 Bridge)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXX0RWOIBjt4o3ziHu-6a5A
Since then, Indian truck drivers, Sihks specifically, have made HUGE inroads into American trucking. Some of them have become successful enough to start buying truck stops. You can now get some fantastic Indian cuisine at truck stops in Wyoming!
Into the limelight: Sikh truckers in America
Sikh drivers are transforming U.S. trucking. Take a ride along the Punjabi American highway
More than 30,000 Indian-American Sikhs have entered the trucking industry in 2 years
The problem with trucking is that it's one of the only industries where employees are commonly paid based on something other than time. Most truckers are paid by the mile, so their compensation is impacted by a lot of things that are completely out of their control -- and even out of the control of their employers.
No, I'm not serious.
Your memory serves you well:
All of this is a departure from the company’s old system, in which candidates were given one chance to perform an assessment, and were judged based on their driving skills and ability to accurately complete safety scans before departure. This “one and done” test was so rigorous that only about 10 percent of candidates made it through the trial run, according to Yahoo Finance. Now, about 80 percent pass under the new trial process, Walmart told Business Insider.
But becoming a Walmart driver still requires that you not only pass this initial on-boarding process and driving checks, but that you have 30 months of experience in the past three years and a clean safety record.]
According to a family member who works in a food distribution company:
Part of the issue with the driver shortage pertains to new federal regulations which now require continuous electronic monitoring of trucks. Many drivers feel it is an invasion of their privacy as they are monitored 24 hours, even during meals and sleeping. There have also been changes to truckers allowable work hours which has added loading and unloading times to actual driving hours - thereby significantly reducing how long they actually drive. Truckers are less able to make profitable long runs because they must wait before picking up a return delivery.
Trucking companies are increasing wages, but it so far has not helped the shortage.
The problem of drivers, and driver retention is nothing new. Goes way back. I mean way back.
Personally I’ve seen lying dispatchers, low pay, and mainly disrespect for the drivers in general as the reasons drivers find other careers.
The trucking dispatch personnel treat the drivers like excrement. The receiving docks treat the drivers like excrement. The various law enforcement entities treat the drivers like excrement. I could spend the day listing the sources of disrespect for those behind the wheel delivering the goods America needs. Everything moves by truck at one time, or another.
My wife retired from Customer Service at a major trucking company. She knows the disrespect, and told me many a time she didn’t ever want to see me behind the wheel simply because of the way she observed those drivers were treated. I never drove for that company. It was bad enough working in the pit, the office of a major nationwide carrier.
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