Orin Zebest (Flickr)
Driver shortage? Pay shortage? Or, maybe gas and oil prices are the cause of the transportation industry’s woes!
Driver shortage or pay shortage? I’m voting pay shortage. You all know the debate: the media constantly reports that the transportation industry is suffering from a driver shortage; we know the truth. There are plenty of drivers, but exactly how does the transportation industry expect us to make a living on low wages? Particularly with the economy in a meltdown and gasoline and oil prices so ridiculously high? There are plenty of drivers; we just can’t afford to drive our trucks!
No Respect!
What people seem to forget is how important we really are in keeping America running on a daily basis. Sure, you can earn a measly $18,000 a year flipping burgers, or almost $70,000 as an executive chef if that’s your cup of tea, but guess what? You won’t have anything to cook if we don’t transport the food to the restaurants, stores and suppliers. And the best chefs of all – moms – won’t have anything to cook, either. Restaurants and retail – food retail or otherwise – do not have a business if they don’t have a good to sell, and who do they think transports the goods?
This might very well be the reason behind the short pay. People simply don’t understand or, I dare say, care how everything they need gets into their hands. Nope. They just get irritated if they get stuck behind a big rig on the highway – a big rig that is most likely transporting the very things they are on their way to buy – and drive like a bunch of maniacs to get around the truck cursing and laying on the horn. Remember Rodney Dangerfield? No respect! And truck driving salaries just might be an example of this attitude, rather than the importance of truck driving to our way of life.
Pay Shortage?
On average, a United States truck driver earns anywhere from $40,000 to $68,000 per year. The worst place to drive salary-wise? Hawaii. The best place to drive salary-wise? Mississippi. Now on paper this might look pretty good. I mean, heck, $68,000 a year? That’s more than what the manager of your favorite McDonald’s makes. But, it’s not that much considering the cost of living these days. And you’d have to drive quite awhile before you start earning that coveted 68 grand. So why are we paid so little? Chime in! Let’s get some input from you drivers on what you think the problem is.
Driver Shortage?
There’s a flip side to every argument, and the flip side here is that there actually IS a driver shortage, and many people are even taking the plunge to drive trucks because they get paid more truck driving than they did in their other career choice. In fact, Bloomberg reported on its website in February that an assistant bank manager quit his job to drive a truck because he made more money truck driving. Bloomberg cited the reason behind this phenomenon is because there is a shortage of truck drivers and demand for graduates from CDL training has increased exponentially over the last few years. Perhaps Bloomberg has a point, the average salary of an assistant bank manager is only about $41,000, so a person could potentially make more if he or she began driving over the road, but do we really have a shortage of actual truck drivers?
Bloomberg also asserts in its article that truck driving salaries are not the problem. It reports that despite the fact that trucking companies began paying drivers more in 2010, and that driver salaries increased 9.7 percent in 2011, the transportation industry is still short 125,000 drivers than what it needs to fulfill its driving obligations.
There are impressive stats, and certainly present the argument that pay isn’t the issue because the salaries have increased recently. Perhaps what isn’t being taken into consideration, however, is that gas and oil prices rose 11.5 percent from 2011 to 2012. Do the math. Any 9.7 percent salary increase in 2011 was more than absorbed by the 11.5 percent increase in fuel and oil costs – by nearly 2 percent! And whether you drive for a company or are an owner-operator, those operating costs eat away at salaries. Somebody’s got to pay to keep the trucks on the road, and some food for thought is that the only reason there’s a shortage of drivers is because the drivers themselves are losing money hand over fist trying to keep the rig running and have turned to other forms of employment.
Your Turn!
What do you think? Do we have a driver shortage or pay shortage? Have you received any salary increase as represented by the media? How much does it cost you to keep your rig on the road? Are you a former driver who has had to find other work to pay the bills? Here’s your chance to speak up on this important debate within our industry, so let’s hear what you have to say!
Steve D says
In my experience pay is only half of the equation. I drove OTR from 1995-2000. I averaged 2800 miles a week, home every weekend, and made in the mid 50s. Now I have returned to driving after being away for 10 years. What I have noticed is an exponential increase is hassles and misery inflicted primarily by shippers and receivers. I struggle to get 2000 miles a week and a lot of days I am spending as much time at docks as I am on the road. I doubt that I will be able to earn as much as I did 10 years ago, and some paychecks are about 40% detention pay. I think what is driving drivers away is partly flat wages over the years, but mostly just the incredible hassles and indignities inflicted on us by shippers and receivers who call all the shots out here.
DJaxon1 says
EXACTLY! Steve. From 2004 – 06 I started driving local and made 50k Then I come back out OTR and struggle to avg 2000. You can’t go in too early at some places. Others make you wait 2 hours or more before you can back in a door. Some give you appt. times, only to find out they’re first come first serve. It’s crazy to do this for 500 a week.
Sam says
I agree Steve, I’ve spent as long as 9 hours backed into a dock door waiting for lumpers to unload my truck. the average wait these days is 3 -5 hours, trucking companies know this and most wait to pay you detention until after the first two hours have passed. The cutthroat competition for customers amongst the trucking companies allows this happen by providing even the worst of customers free driver hours and dock time. Very few drivers join trucking companies to spend their time away from home sitting in dock doors and truck stops waiting on loads that have short delivery times with even shorter hours to deliver them with. As most drivers are paid piece rate is so many cents per miles driven and this added frustration is the leading cause of conflict between drivers and the trucking companies they work for.
ken says
I have been a professional truck driver since 1989. In all those years I have never had an accident, two fines for being overweight on my drive axles, and a seatbelt fine two years ago. I bought my first truck in 1996. I signed with a van company and made 1.14(cdn) per mile. I was payed for waiting time, an east coast incentive and delivery. Through the years I moved to pulling tanks which I thoroughly enjoy. My rate of pay now is 1.12 (cdn) per mile plus a fuel surcharge that moves up and down with the price of fuel, bringing my pay to about 1.20 (cdn) per mile. My truck in 1996, a 1989 fld120, gave me 7 mpg. My truck in 2012, a 2006 Coronado, 8 mpg. Fuel in 1996 was .47 cents per litre(1.78 gallon). Now fuel is 1.28 litre(4.84 gallon). I recently spoke with a carrier in America about pulling vans again, they paid 1.00 (us) per mile. I really enjoy some aspects of this job, the sense of brotherhood, the laughs at supper time with the others drivers and meeting new and sometimes unusual people, and I most certainly enjoy driving in America more than Canada. Better roads and more respect. There are certainly way more problems with trucking now than in 1989 when I first got my cdl, but I think pay certainly has to be at the top of the pile.
Rick says
I have been driving over the road for19 years and i agree with your reply 100%.
sudon't says
Sure, it’s not a bad salary – for a 40 hour per week job. When non-truckers evaluate that salary, that’s what they’re comparing it to. But truck driving, even for local drivers, is most decidedly not a 40 hour per week job. I have often wondered why truck drivers are expected to work 12 to 14 hours per day, (often more in reality), and often seven days per week. Why are we so special?
See, here’s the thing – while almost every other worker is paid for their time, truckers are not. In fact, employers, shippers, and receivers think nothing of wasting our time. This is because no one has to pay for it. If they had to pay us for our time, you’d soon see shorter work hours, and less time sitting in the dock, the terminal, or the truck stop. H.O.S violations would become a vanishingly rare problem.
But people come into truck driving without realizing how much work goes into obtaining that salary. Very soon, they realize they are killing themselves for peanuts, and being treated like assholes for it. Hence the “driver shortage.”
If there’s one thing I learned in my life, it’s that good jobs never need to be advertised. Good employers never need a “help wanted” ad to fill positions. There’s always a long line of applicants waiting for those positions. Conversely, the more desperate the employer, well, do I really have to spell it out?
Sam says
Great point Sudon’t, working 70 hours in 8 days over a 12 – 13 day work week is standard fare for the majority of drivers. Being away from home 27 – 28 days out of every month is not for the faint hearted. How many desk jockeys would rebel if they were told that to earning their living they would have to work 14 hours a day, live in the office and sleep on a cot behind their desk for two weeks at a time.
Aetius says
Made $135,000 on my 1099 here at Contrak Ontario CA under lease, after truck payment fuel insurance direct deposit was around the $60,000 but put $$15,000 in maintenance and my taxes were around $9,000 bc my wife works have no kids and rent. In the its only around the $40,000 net for an average of 66hrs a week ( avrg 52wks) and plenty of 6 day work weeks….. No I know I can make more as a company driver without the hassle of doing my own maintenance, coming in on my 6th day, paying for parking, and being my own accountant plus deal with the IRS etc …. Despite all that I would stay if it wasn’t for the corruption at Comtrak Ontario CA, the culture it’s the culture. It’s a far cry from founder Mike Bruns of Comtrak initiated. Been driving for 8 years.
Stephen webster says
The pay is too low truck taking other jobs in construction at almost 2 times truck driver pay
Zeke says
The pay is way too low for the amount of work that has to be done. one can get an office job with way less hassle and make the same or more money. The executives are the only ones profiting. I hope the shortage gets worse because that’s the only was drivers will get a fair salary.
James Daugherty says
Trucking is at best a minimum wage job. Trucking is not your average every day job where you work 8 hours then go home. Truckers live in there trucks24/7 for weeks at a time and almost twice as many hours week as most people for an average salary of 41000 a year. They work weekends and holidays for no extra pay. No reason otr drivers shouldn’t be making$80000+a year