Why there's a shortage of truck drivers

[Bob Of Burleson]

Mamta Badkar
BusinessInsider.com

America is experiencing a shortage of truck drivers.

The American Trucking Associations (ATA) estimates that the U.S. is short 30,000 truck drivers. Factors driving the shortfall include regulations, relatively low pay, and the fact that fewer young people are interested in getting into the profession.

Ninety percent of carriers said they couldn't find enough drivers who met department of transportation (DOT) criteria, according to a study cited by the ATA.

The turnover rate at large truckload carriers was 92% annualized in Q1, putting it above 90% for the ninth straight quarter, according to the ATA. This compares with a low of 39% seen four years ago but is lower than a 130% average in 2005.

Turnover refers to the rate at which drivers leave the industry and are replaced. The ATA reports this quarterly and annualizes the rate. "One-hundred percent turnover doesn’t mean that every driver left," ATA chief economist Bob Costello says.

. . .

"Industry carriers are rotating through the same drivers — meaning drivers jump from carrier to carrier with no great influx of new candidates into the driver pool," Gretchen Jackson, manager of recruitment at Con-way Truckload, told Business Insider in an email.

. . .

Drivers are leaving because of industry growth, retirements, and the switch to other industries.

"We see our over-the-road (OTR) drivers leave to join other industries, particularly construction or less-than-truckload (LTL) truck driving, which provides a different type of schedule and work style than OTR driving," Jackson said. "Drivers want to make more money, and they want more home time, so they leave OTR truck driving for careers that can give them that."

Changes to the hours-of-service (HOS) regulations in 2013 are also reducing driver productivity, Costello said. "As a result, carriers have to add more trucks and drivers to haul the same amount of freight, thus exacerbating the shortage."

And then there are the barriers to entry. Seven percent of drivers cause Compliance Safety Accountability (CSA) problems for trucking companies. "While not all 7% will be pushed out of the industry overnight, over time, CSA and the related pre-employment driver screening program facilitated by the government will exacerbate the driver shortage," Costello writes.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/americas ... z39Rtfis7B

[Dancer]

BoB I agree and disagree with that article. I have been driving to the north of 30 yrs. I have done most but not all kinds. The new ones I see scare the HELL out of me. Stupidity reigns with about 90% of driving school graduates. No common sense, no realization that you weigh 80,000 lbs and can't stop on a dime, are among the worst things I see on a day to day basis. The schools are CASH COWS. I hate to say it, but I worked for one many years ago. It was connected to a very large Frozen Food Carrier and all they wanted were people with a brand new CDL. Driving has changed over the years. Regulation has run amok, the good drivers have retired or died, and people like me are left to deal with the Wannabees and Mexican Taxi Drivers that own their own big-rig and pay no attention to any regulation that comes down.

[LibraryLady]

The sanitation dept at our local city said that all cities are having trouble keeping drivers as the local construction projects have taken the drivers from the various city depts. and also they have had to increase the pay to keep drivers.

[Red Oak]

It is a tough job if done right.