There are multiple causes, including union rules preventing extra shifts or longer hours to get the ships unloaded, a lack of rail capacity for the extra goods, and not enough truckers to haul everything away.
What if I told you the trucker shortage isn’t just what you’ve been told?
What if I told you that in California, the trucker shortage is a self-inflicted wound?
What if I told you the wound was inflicted by Democrats?
You can’t find your shocked face, can you?
Long term, this nation does have a trucker problem. The average age for truckers is 55, and the industry is having a hard time attracting new workers.
Redwood Logistics explains:
The Federal requirement states you must be 21 years old to hold an Interstate Commercial Divers License. This leaves a 3-year post-high school gap, where possible employees become distracted by new employment opportunities.
Over the next 10-15 years, a lot of truckers are going to retire, and there aren’t enough replacements in the pipeline.
Also, trucking is a lifestyle that doesn’t much appeal to women, who represent only 6% of drivers, making it even harder to find replacements.
The immediate problem, the one in Los Angeles, has been caused by the state’s vindictively regulatory state government.
We’ll get to the trucker shortage in just a moment, but California also faces a shortage of trucks for them to drive.
Twitter user Jerry Oakley reminds us that “Carriers domiciled in California with trucks older than 2011 model, or using engines manufactured before 2010, will need to meet the Board’s new Truck and Bus Regulation beginning in 2020.” Otherwise, “Their vehicles will be blocked from registration with the state’s DMV,” according to California law.
“The requirement is to purchase electric trucks which do not exist.”
I deal directly with many independent trucking companies primarily in the Pacific NW.
They tell me the largest deterrent to hiring new drivers is that 50% of the applicants can not pass a drug test. Especially in Oregon where basically ALL drugs are legal.
Keep in mind it may be legal to smoke pot, but from a liability standpoint, would you as a owner want to put someone in a $150K tractor, pulling a $75K trailer with someones product on or in that trailer. Also, that tractor/trailer combination can weigh in excess of 100K lbs going 75 mph.