Posted on 08/03/2018 7:32:32 AM PDT by mac_truck
Some 500,000 nonlocal, for-hire truckers are delivering freight in the U.S., and the industry needs 51,000 more, experts say.
The average driver is 50 years old, and only 6 percent are women.
Trucking companies including Saia, Titanium Transportation, ArcBest and Ryder System have all noted wage increases for drivers on recent earnings calls as the shortage worsens.
Trucks hauled more than 70 percent of freight tonnage in the U.S. last year, generating $676 billion in revenues, according to the American Trucking Associations. But the industry is grappling with a growing problem a shortage of qualified drivers, as its current workforce ages and the labor market continues to tighten.
"We have more freight than we know what to do with, but in order to haul that freight, you've got to have more drivers trucks don't drive themselves," said Bob Costello, the association's chief economist. "We have a couple of demographics problems in the industry we have a high average age of the current truck drivers. We need to do a better job to get females in as truck drivers. The supply side is tight as well."
The crunch is being felt in industries from construction to retail as the labor shortage's ripple effect grows.
C.R. England, a Salt Lake City-based trucking company, works with big companies like Nestle and Walmart and employs some 6,500 drivers, but Chairman Dan England said it could use 500 more.
"It's frustrating for us not to be able to meet the goals we have set in terms of growth.
We do have to disappoint customers on a regular basis. Every day we have many loads that are called in, we just can't answer the calls and put a truck there," said England, whose company has been in his family for four generations.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
Yes but till then there is an acute shortage.
Forgot it. Sometimes I think Drago is a troll on FreeRep for the technology giants. LOL
If I was young I would beg, borrow or steal to get into flight school.
There is a HUGE NEED for commercial pilots and the ranks are not being filled enough by ex-military pilots which has been the source of them to date.
But trucking is good, just not as lucrative. I don’t know about piloting but trucking is REALLY hard on the body. I know FLYING is hard but can be accommodated (I have nearly 3 million miles as passenger).
Yes, but horse sh** was a serious problem in NYC. That’s my point. It’s a real problem, but the long term solution is outside the box.
I’m 64 and at the end of a 35 year IT career. I live in south central KY now (moved here from Seattle). When I was 18 I worked for a guy that had three Peterbuilts that hauled produce from California to Seattle. I did brake jobs, unloaded the trucks (entire load had to be placed on palats), washed the trucks, drove the drivers home after their trip, etc.
I wanted to be a truck driver until I heard all the drivers’ horror stories. But now I actually thought it might be fun to “retire” from the stress of IT when I turn 66 and collect my sizeable SS while I drive truck for, truth be told, not all that much less than IT pays in KY. Then I found out about the regulations.
Nope. More stress than I’ve had in any job in the last 20 years. As Jordan Peterson says, “I’m not doin’ it.”
The government created this problem. They can dam* well fix it themselves. It won’t be with my sacrificial blood and sweat.
That's the biggest problem in hiring people for damn near anything.
Time to go back to using trains to haul what not enough truck drivers can haul!!
He says that it’s not just the OTR (Over The Road) drivers/freight that could be replaced by trains, but it’s even finding drivers that carry it from the trains to your store. Trains don’t deliver to Home Depot or Krogers.
Plus trains don’t handle LTL (Less Than Truck Load) freight very well. They want a full container, not 50 boxes going to Kohl’s.
I use to work for Peterbilt.
Google is launching self driving cars next month in Phoenix. Still there are some here saying it will never happen in trucking. OK
http://redstatewatcher.com/article.asp?id=133164
Trumps Approval From Black Voters Nearly Doubles! 2020 Victory Appears Inevitable!
Next time you see your nephew, mention that you heard wages and benefits are up in the industry...good truckers are hard to find.
Yes
The data-log means the driver and his company have full liability for anything that is in contravention of DOT regs. The economy is strong and this is causing prices to spike even higher. I expect very little of that extra cost will go into trucker's pockets
Pilots will be replaced by automatons long before drivers and starting pay for drivers is much higher then for pilots.
I don't think Rick Nelson, would rather drive a truck these days.
The light bulb went on for me when someone said it doesn’t have to be commercial airliner safe. It just has to be safer than human drivers.
Truth be told, that is actually a pretty low bar, which suggests it will be a reality sooner rather than later.
BTW, one of the things the guy I worked for made a big deal about regarding peterbilt vs Kenworth at the time was in their frames. He showed me a frame to a Kenworth and said, “See all those holes in the frame? those are all the pre-drilled holes for the various options that that particular truck doesn’t have. Now, notice the Peterbilt frame has no holes in it. That is because each frame is drilled only for the items that particular truck has attached to the frame. They are much more “custom built” than the Kenworths.
And now my son owns a fleet of 11 Fuel trucks (for refueling parked big rigs and construction equipment. He has 10 Peterbilts and bought one Kenworth. He told me he’s selling it and going straight Peterbilt because they are better (I don’t remember if it was reliability, driveability or what).
I’d try my hand on working on the railroad.
Too old and entrenched in IT probably. I can pass a drug test.
I drove a box truck a few times for a poorly ran Midwestern based electronics recycling and resale crowd.
Those people should be on the street or jail.
I hope to take private flying lessons next year assuming nothing else in life blows up.
>>I hope to take private flying lessons next year assuming nothing else in life blows up.<<
Take ‘em anyway. if you wait for life to cooperate you’ll never get in he air ;)
I am too old now and my fear of heights gets in the way. I can overcome it but I think trying to get it controlled enough is for a younger me.
Lessons are on the list.
The “big move” to the new pad and a few large medical bills fried plans for this year.
“What are we going to do, long term, about all this horse sh**?”
I still wonder.
Oh, never mind. I see they meant literally. I thought they were talking about NY politics.
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