Tons of trucking jobs ... that nobody wants

CNNMoney ^ | 7/24/2012 | Aaron Smith

[Signalman]

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- During tough economic times with high unemployment, Americans should be jumping at any chance to work, but trucking companies are struggling to hire drivers.

There are as many as 200,000 job openings nationwide for long haul truckers, according to David Heller, director of safety and policy for the Truckload Carriers Association.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics also sees the demand for truckers increasing, up from the 1.5 million drivers on the road now. It expects trucking to add 330,100 jobs between 2010 and 2020, an increase of 20%.

But these positions are difficult to fill, and even harder to keep filled.

"Nobody wants to drive a truck," said Heller.

The pay isn't bad: Truckers earn a median annual wage of $37,930, which is $4,000 more than the median wage for all jobs, according to the BLS. The top 10% of truck drivers make more than $58,000 per year.

So why do so many long-haul trucking jobs remain unfilled?

First, it's difficult to get certified. The biggest hurdle for the unemployed is probably getting a commercial driver's license, which requires a training course that's up to eight weeks long and costs about $6,000.

"Drivers are put under intense scrutiny before they get into the industry, and for good reason," said Brett Aquila, trucker and creator of the blog TruckingTruth. "It's incredibly risky putting someone behind the wheel of an 80,000 pound truck with your company's name on it."

And when drivers do get on the road, they find the long-haul lifestyle isn't easy, living for weeks at a time in the cramped confines of the back of the truck.

[Mr. K]

Sounds like an opportunity..

Any Freepers want to get together and start a trucking business?

Sattelite radio and Patriot Channel are nearly as good as Freeping all day!

[cripplecreek]

"Nobody wants to drive a truck,"

I have a family full of truck drivers and former truck drivers. There ain't no way in hell I would inflict modern trucking on myself.

[Signalman]

Maybe the reason nobody is applying for trucking jobs is because of this:

http://money.cnn.com/2012/05/10/news/economy/oil_workers/index.htm?iid=EL

[Uncle Slayton]

In general, truck drivers are very conservative and are reacting to the Obama economy by not driving trucks as the industry has been destroyed by Obama and there are not goods needing to be shipped in a bad Obama economy.

[re_nortex]

"If memories are all I sang I'd rather drive a truck." -- Garden Party by Rick Nelson.

[corkoman]

Frequent radio advertisements looking to recruit long haul drivers here in southeast Florida. Perhaps the biggest challenge is that the income is not all that higher than what one could gather from the various unemployment assistances.

[Brookhaven]

If they would raise the pay, they would fill the positions.

It’s just supply and demand.

Crab fishing is a much worse job, but they fill the positions because crab fishermen get paid a lot.

[Uncle Slayton]

The oil and gas industry is also being destroyed by Obama and there are hundreds of thousands of oil field workers out of work because Obama has prohibited oil drilling in the United States of America.

[Buckeye McFrog]

You have to be able to pass a drug test to get your CDL, and an exploding proportion of our population has no shot in hell there.

[Little Ray]

If I could back a trailer, I’d consider it!
Fortunately, I already have a good job.

[Oberon]

After having learned that many modern trucking companies aren't happy with you unless you break the laws regarding mandatory rest periods, fake your logbooks, and be willing to not get paid for the time you sit around waiting for your turn to load or unload, well... it's not hard to understand why people don't want to do the job.

For a young single man it might be okay for a while.

[spankalib]

Always liked that song...

Backatcha:
Hello, “I’m a truck”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAndG1sGKbw

[Elle Bee]

and the teamster National Master Freight Agreement artificially suppresses wage

another thank you to unions and their obsolescence

.

[Truth29]

"Frequent radio advertisements looking to recruit long haul drivers here in southeast Florida. Perhaps the biggest challenge is that the income is not all that higher than what one could gather from the various unemployment assistances."

Bingo and that applies to a lot of jobs and long term unemployed Americans. The welfare social assistance programs create permanent dependency and that is why Obama is working so hard at expanding food stamps, for instance.

[Mr. K]

i am thinking that with an average of $40K earnings that is probably for DRIVERS

OWNER/OPERATORS probably make more, and if you are the busines owner who contracts out to the owner operators you make even more

I could take a few years hitting the road (I call dibs on the route through monument valley in Utah)

[central_va]

[Mr. Bird]

If the certification outlay is a barrier, companies can recruit the talent prior to certification and then pay for certification on the condition of a term of employment.

If it costs up to $6k to obtain the cert, you’re not going to have many new entrants to the labor pool, so you need to create them.

[trailhkr1]

I have a family full of truck drivers and former truck drivers. There ain't no way in hell I would inflict modern trucking on myself.

A family friend divorced over his long haul trucking gig. Gone for 3 weeks at a time, home for 4-5 days only to repeat.....his 29 year old very attractive wife kept complaining that he was never home and she was lonely..well, one day he came home several days early and there was another warm body in his bed....ooops.

[FAA]

Ironically I was discussing this very thing with some others the other day. As I peruse the local CL there are more ads for trucking jobs than for just about anything else listed. Many offering CDL training (which I know you then have to pay back, etc) and mentioning that experience is not required while a valid driver’s license and clean driving record is.

I sorta agree that for a yound single person it would be a good way to make a buck. If you’re married or need to stay close to home it may not work for you.

My sister and B-I-L tag team OTR drove for years and managed to pay off a house and two new vehicles in very short order but they also worked a lot of 7 day weeks doing so.