Posted on 08/06/2018 1:56:13 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Wanted: truck drivers.
Amid an otherwise strong corporate earnings environment, cost inflation within the trucking and freight industry is becoming a real concern for many companies.
"It's a real bear," Tyson Foods (TSN - Get Report) CEO Tom Hayes told TheStreet about the inflationary pressures of the shortage.
Approximately 60,000 drivers are needed to meet robust demand for trucking services, and that may be a conservative estimate. The shortage could be upwards of 100,000 or more, Seaport Global Securities LLC analyst Kevin Sterling told TheStreet.
The driver shortage stems from several factors, according to Sky Harbor's Director of Research Michael Salice. Those factors include an aging workforce, high driver turnover rates (above 90% at present), reduced capacity as a result of regulatory changes, increasing freight demand, inflationary pressures, and "lifestyle priorities" that make competing industries more attractive.
Considering these issues, "industry experts fear the current shortage (~60,000 drivers) may nearly triple by the year 2026, absent any meaningful changes," Salice wrote in a research note.
Queue the earnings warnings from consumer companies.
The leading issue is turnover, according to Kara Deniz, the senior communications coordinator for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which is a labor union of drivers and warehouse workers.
"High turnover in the industry ties back to dissatisfaction," said Deniz. "Turnover is a reflection of poor wages and working conditions, such as being away from families for a long period of time."
The trucking industry boomed in the 1980s as a result of deregulation, and many small trucking companies popped up during that time, Sterling said.
"Fast forward to today and the next eight years, people are retiring," he said.
The obvious answer to solving the shortage dilemma, Deniz suggested, is for trucking companies to raise wages, but that could also result in higher costs for businesses and their customers.
Pay more and more drivers will come. It is how the market works.
Autonomous drivers....
I think we should take in more Somalians as refugees to cover this gap...
pay more ... get more truck drivers ... bet $100,000 salary would bring in more applications than you could shake a stick at ...
RE: Pay more and more drivers will come. It is how the market works.
1) How much training does a person need for this job?
2) How many hours per week is the job?
3) How much does an average Truck driver make?
They’re hiring foreign drivers by the droves. We get drivers that can barely speak English. I think they’re angling for more visas.
Exactly.
Raising wages may raise costs but so does having a shortage.
But how many could pass the drug test???
I don’t know but I needed a job you bet I’d find out.
They treated truck driver with distain and disrespect. Combined with the low pay, who the heck would want to drive a truck??
The airlines did the same thing with pilots. There has been threats of shortages for over ten years, yet, airlines kept treating pilots badly. Magically, now that airlines have had to cut thousands of flight due to the pilot shortage, they’re now begging for anyone to be a pilot and pay is much better.
This stinks like Koch bros propaganda.
There will be self driving trucks by 2026. This is a wolf cry by the industry to import more third worlders to fulfil a shortage which is already being addressed by technology.
My friend, a massive truck driver, makes six figures for 9 monthe of hard work. He loves it... non-union too.
The quality of the applicant goes up with increasing wages. The converse it also true.
This explains why I keep getting robodialer spammed ‘on behalf of ‘ a major us trucking company offering jobs and bonuses. It’s so bad they have to pass the cost of their recruitment on to random phone owners.
That’s an awesome cut and fill road.
Where is that?
They could also look at which regulations annoy drivers without materially increasing safety, and repeal them.
2026? LOL
Driver-less trucks in 2027 will make this article seem silly. Layoffs will accelerate.
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