Fox news:Trucker shortage

Been hearing this story for over 20 years,,"Driver Shortage". There is no driver shortage,,there are carriers that fill their yards with trucks,,,they all want to be like wal-mart,,move a lot of loads and make a few dollars profit off each load. The only way they think that they can make money is by "Volume" If there were a shortage of drivers no one would ever sit and the freight rates would go up. Carriers are in bidding wars with each other,,They have bid freight rates so low they can't make money unless they move thousands of loads, Carriers have no problem buy rolling stock they get big tax write offs with equipment and less tax write offs from labor. Brokers have hurt the business to,,in 1982 when trucking was deregulated there were only 60 brokers that could broker regulated freight. today there are over 18,000,,many are about the same as a pimp or are carpet baggers.
If you look at Europe and other countries like Australia they never have a shortage of drivers,
If the carriers were smart they would start raising their rates. Carriers are afraid to raise their rates because shippers threaten to use the cheapest carrier even if there is only a few cents difference in the rate.
Citizen Drivers now have a new problem,,illegal immigrants that now are allowed to get drivers licenses.
I talk with drivers that tell me they are making 32cnts/mile or less all the time. Hell back in the late 80's drivers made the same. as long a carriers can be self insured and can sucker people that don't have a clue to what duties, hours and life of being a truck driver in to the industry things will not change.
One would think that if Schneider,Werner,Swift,Crete, CRST, CR England and many others they would reduce the amount of rolling stock their profits would go up. Better to increase the utilization of their equipment by only increasing their fleets when they run out of capacity.
They only way carriers have survived the past 20 years or more is to have a supply of low priced labor and government incentives to pay for in house or out sourced driving schools. Carriers are also cashing in on Veterans GI Bill benefits. Good to hire veterans but carriers are not being patriot, they only want the money.
Just think what it would be like if trucking companies had to pay 1 1/2 times either the hourly pay rate or after 40 hours a week the mileage rate to drivers, Why is it that 90% of the rest of America is requires to pay over time pay and not the trucking industry if the job is "Safety Related" Yes the Fair Labor Standards act says specifically that if a tucking company employees job is safety related they are exempt from over time laws.
Next coming down the pike will be the Europeanization of Trucking Laws and Regulations in the US, Ever wonder where the idea for roundabouts came from?
Trucking companies have for over 20 years pushed for higher gross weight limits.
First back in the 80's it was weight limits going from 73,280 to 80,000lbs.Then from 45 ft trailer to 48,,then 53 and their pushing for 57 ft trailer and paying drivers the same pay. They want to raise the weight limits to 97,000lbs, no doubt drivers wages will stay the same.
Self Driving Trucks? Most likely with a young kid sitting in a chair in the Philippines or India controlling the truck from a computer.
Don't laugh the government has classified truck driving as non-skilled labor, After all anyone that can drive a car can drive a truck. I miss the days when 220HP was big power,,at least back then all truckstops had a restaurant , you got in and out of them in about 30 minutes with a meal, and you never heard of a truck accident in a truckstop..
Many rookies will not stay long in trucking,,I would think that off all the drivers that get their first CDL this year 75% will not be driving a truck in three year, Out of the 25% left about half will make it a career lasting 20 years or more.

Tough job,,lots of adventure sometimes and lots of drivers but few will become truckers with no fault of their own but just the way things are due to government and big poorly run carriers.

Have fun on your run guys but always take a little extra time to be safe.
Truck driver one of the very few occupations where a simple mistake land driver in jail. Even if there is not an accident or anyone injured and drugs are not involved.

 

[QUOTE="semi" retired;4202282]Wow G/MAN, are you on the same planet as the rest of us? I don't like disagreeing with anyone, as it just throws gas on a tire fire, but there is indeed a driver shortage. I go by CL and just what this guy said in the video and that was 2 years ago, he could add 50 drivers right now! It's a pretty good indication of what's out there. I casually scan CL several times a week, just in case that "miracle job" presents itself (nothing yet), and I've watched the transport openings steadily grow from 40 or 50 openings, to 140 the other day, more than any other classification. And that was just in Milwaukee, Chicago CL has over 300 openings. I'm sorry, but if you don't think there's a driver shortage, you are in the same boat as the newscaster.[/QUOTE]

yes, he can hire 50 drivers right now, but later, he just can't find drivers.

there isn't a driver shortage, if that were the case, we'd have no problems parking anywhere, but instead, they are clogging up the parking because they have nowhere to go. and the majority of you all, don't work nights.

you can't find parking in phoenix at noon. let alone midnight.

 

Now, THAT'S spot on!

 

Just think how bad it would be if the rail road was not hauling all the trailers and containers that they do,,
Maybe better to increase their fleet when they have the drivers to fill the seats,

Know I get a little long winded at times..been a union driver,,small fleet driver, fleet manager and a carrier owner operator,
Even once was hand selected to meet with 7 other drivers for an all day discussion group with the FMCSA meeting all the top big wigs there,, was not impressed when they all admitted that the FMCSA sent them to driving school so they could get a CDL

 

AB-60 takes affect in California on January 1. It allows people without proof of legal presences in the US to obtain a California Drivers License. At that point, I don't know what would stop a person from getting a Class A.

 

The entire industry is built on lies and deceptions and work-arounds.

From Day One with the pre-trip inspection that no driver will ever do as thoroughly again (Yes, I've never seen a driver check slack adjusters out in the real world, EVAR.), a new driver is conditioned and taught to know what is supposed to be done and how to NOT BOTHER doing it. Paper logging (wink-wink, "I can't tell you to do it this way, but this is the way I do it." wink-wink), doesn't matter what you do, but "log it legal" wink-wink.

Boss says log it at 60 mph, when anyone with a minimal grasp of reality knows the trip takes an average of 45 mph because trucks can't accelerate from zero to sixty instantly, run for five hours, then decelerate from sixty to zero instantly. Yet, DOT is fine with that kind of logging. That's LEGAL. Wink-wink, driver!
All for between 10 and 12 bucks an hour on a 70 hour week (if you run legal, wink-wink).

DOT inspections, weight tickets, equipment condition, all focused on the driver, who becomes the tip of the liability pyramid out on the road.

Add to that the general everyday risks of crushing some idiot four-wheeler, being away from home and family, peeing in an orange juice bottle, brushing your teeth in a plastic bucket, and you've got a recipe for a job not very many people want to go do. Really? Fourteen hours a day on duty? Eleven hours to drive? Since your normal day is shot you might as well keep driving, right?
I guess trucking is step up from being homeless.

Might as well get a day job at a brewery that pays 10 bucks an hour and see your kids every night and morning and get sleep like a normal human being.
Don't even get me started on running tired doing local work, which is probably worse than OTR in that respect.

Saying, "Well trucking's not for everybody!" doesn't even come close to describing the reality of the living lie that trucking in the United States of America has become and why rational, reality-based people don't want to do it -- they either can't afford to do it and/or their consciences won't allow them to suspend reality enough to do the job.

Trucking: Is it just another word for nothin' left to lose?
Is it a national metaphor?
Is it too late?

Stay tuned....

 

Same old story,, shortage of truck drivers but no shortage of truck parking

 

The only shortage their is...is top quality drivers because a lot are walking away because a lot top are tired of working for peanuts...you can't expect to hire "mcdonalds level type drivers and expect caviar work"...like the old saying goes... "you get what you pay for"...these co's want cheap labor, then expect the high cost of hiring to continue...another thing is if these co's spent half as much time and money on retainment of drivers as They do on recruitment they wouldn't have this problem either.