For decades, major truckload carriers have been saying that they are being negatively impacted by a shortage of truck drivers. Last week an analysis was published by the Department of Labor which “does not find evidence” that a driver shortage exists.
Researchers from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) published an article in the Monthly Labor Review. It uses data from the Department of Labor, federal population and employment data, and U.S. DOT data to examine claims of the driver shortage.
According to the report, researchers focused on trucking not only because truck drivers make up a significant portion of blue-collar workers, but also because truckers provide “critically important services to the U.S. economy.” With the American Trucking Association (ATA) “arguing systematically since 2005” that carriers are facing a driver shortage and national publications picking up the story more recently, the subject demanded some attention.
The article is titled ‘Is The U.S. Labor Market For Truck Drivers Broken?’ While the information presented is much more detailed than this, the answer to that question is ‘no.’
Even if there was a major driver shortage, carriers would have a relatively easy time fixing that problem. The BLS researchers point out that when there is a shortage in a labor market, it is generally fixed with wage increases.
Just like every almost every other blue-collar industry, when workers become truck drivers it is so they will earn more than they did at their previous job, and drivers who leave trucking do so to make more money elsewhere. Researchers concluded that there is “no reason to think” that trucking would break fundamental laws of economics to be an exception.
So, if workers can be encouraged to become truck drivers and/or remain truck drivers by increasing worker pay, why has there been talk of a ‘driver shortage’ since the late 1980s?
“Arguably, the long-distance TL segment has high levels of competition, similar average costs across all scales of production, and a very limited ability to differentiate prices in the product market,” read the BLS article. “These characteristics result in labor market conditions in which individual firms are forced to accept high turnover as a cost-minimizing response to their competitive position in the market for their outputs.”
In other words, Carriers keep driver pay low because shipping costs are the primary way carriers compete with each other – and one of the few costs carriers have control over is how much they pay their drivers. With that in mind, carriers may not actually see high driver turnover as a bad thing for. It may actually be a deliberate “cost-minimizing response” in order to keep driver pay low.
If true, the ATA’s push for solutions to the ‘driver shortage’ may increase the number of workers becoming truck drivers, but not reduce the turnover rate. This could immediately lower the starting salary for drivers. A lower starting salary would in turn lower the salary at which it is less expensive to hire a new driver than to pay an experienced one. That would slowly force experienced drivers out of the industry, lowering average driver pay. Once driver pay is lowered, competition could force freight costs lower, resulting in lower pay industry-wide even for O-Os and fleets who would otherwise want to pay drivers well.
Source: bureau of labor statistics, fleetowner, overdrive, barrons
It’s interesting that the federal government is now able to diagnose the problems that they created when implementing deregulation of the trucking industry. The quote from the BLS citing competition in the marketplace was the primary focus of deregulation with the stated belief that more competition in the trucking industry would result in lower prices for consumers. Of course they forgot that many of these consumers are truck drivers. In government, that’s typically referred to as an “unintended consequence.”
I agree
Great OK. Everyone quit and go find new jobs. Lets see what happens.
Because big carriers have 3000 empty trucks doesn’t mean that the industry has a drivers shortage, they have drivers shortages as a carrier due to their bad practices and policy. I hope everyone quits and lets see what happens.
There is a shortage of good quality carriers.
wouldn’t disagree
As well as good drivers.
But u drive brand,new truck make pennies on the dollar and r never home
Let’s see a report on that
Actually a,shortage of good quality pay
dear folks, the best driver is a person who has jumped from job to job as a semi-professional trained worker and wanting to stay that way in the traveling side of this workforce. 1st start out as a cross country delivery folk in a van or small pick-up truck. once interested in working this way graduate to larger vehicles through employers or offers of work through big truck co.s which will train/with pay for your allegense. after you amass a bit of experience , you may then sell yourself locally to needy companies so needing drivers. 50,000 per year average
U mean job hopper, great for homeless people and newbies
I’ve been saying it for years and it’s a simple solution.
Pay hourly with overtime, problem solved.
From the time you get to the yard and punch in to the time you return to the yard and punch out that’s how you should be paid.
That would solve most driver problems.
No need for eld or slow trucks because the carrier will turn the trucks up if they have to pay by the hour and no more of getting stuck without a parking spot because they put you in a impossible situation.
Why most we do with less than everyone else in the country?
I finally found hourly trucking job home every night and OT but only after 40. My days are 11-12 hrs
I do ok but I’m not getting ahead that’s for sure. My hourly rate needs to be higher with OT after 8hrs. The only way to get that is through a Union. The problem is the war and demonization of Unions since Ronnie Raygun in the 80’s has made that not possible. In 2000 my last year as a UPS Teamsters package car driver I was making $22.50 hr time 1/2 after 8hrs and over 40hrs I thing their current rate is over $35 per hr now. Where I’m at now non union I just received raise that got me to $23 per hr.
For the life of me I can’t understand why nobody wants to be in a Union just based upon that. Before you ask I had a career ending injury there that’s why I’m not there anymore.
Union is a joke, they take your fees and you think you are getting something from them, look at teamsters what they are doing nothing besides taking your money,
I don’t want a union job because I don’t want to rent my job. That’s what you do when you pay dues to some union that tells you you can’t work because they don’t like how somebody at a different terminal got treated.
That idea what only work if you had a supervisor in every truck to monitor what you are doing with the time they are paying you for. Just like a regular job you would have outside of trucking. Just imagine turning a truck driver loose without supervision on an hourly wage. It would drive most trucking companies out of buiesness because of abuse. Not a good idea at all. Sorry
Jefff, if you can’t trust a driver to manage his time. Then you are a fool to trust him with an 80k death machine. If you pay more you get a larger pool of people to choose from because you attract more people. You’re inherent distrust of truckers makes you a perfect candidate for a dispatch position. Hopefully there will be someone there to watch you and make sure you push buttons and answer phone calls with the necessary amount of urgency.
Agreed. The problem is solved with statistics. Abusive drivers will be outliers who are consistently returning later than other drivers. It would be easy to spot them and get rid of them. Soon drivers would be rushing to finish their routes to avoid being labeled an abuser and terminated. It’s a problem that would fix itself. Good drivers just want fair pay and they will give an honest days work in exchange.
Jeff,
I agree with Reno Blues. You have to trust your drivers. There are many very experienced drivers who are very professional and are doing a great job for too little pay. What other industry makes employees work 14 hour days and only pays them the mileage when you have companies making the driver wait for hours to get loaded or unloaded? That is ridiculous. Truckers have been getting the raw end of the deal for too many years now. Pay them what they are worth and start treating them like part of the company!
That why they put the eld in your trucks now so they cantrack your every movement
Amen to that.paying by the hour is the best solution, but trucking companies wont do it because they are greedy. milage pay sucks and we all know it.
There is a shortage of drivers who accept to work for a handful of straw. This is what they are dreaming about, to have slaves on trucks…
No slave here pay me or I’m out there not even paying for loads anymore like they used to might as well be a plumber
Too many drivers can’t afford to quit the career with no other viable skills to replace the income. If the DOL recognizes that drivers are a critical part of the US economy I don’t understand why the Fed hasn’t stepped in to regulate wages the same way they do “safety”. Then again if drivers don’t make enough of a stink I guess they don’t have an actual problem to solve which is what the article says. Since there is no real driver shortage there is no problem. When a real shortage occurs they will be step in. The issue has been diagnosed clearly at this point IMO..
When the government ‘steps up’ to fix nearly anything, it becomes more broken. I agree with everything this story says. Basically, there isn’t a driver shortage, there’s a lack of driver pay.
Long before the people started shouting for $15 minimum wage, restaurants, fast food and other minimum wage paying companies that were situated in high cost of living areas were paying more than the federal minimum wage. Why? No one could afford to live in the area on minimum wage, so they had to up the pay.
Lately I’ve been seeing truck companies raising driver pay. I can’t speak for all the companies, but the one I work for increased pay 25% over the last year and our retention is much higher.
Retention can be raised if they get rid of the government mandated 30 min break and the 14 hour rule….just two examples where the government’s stepped in and gummed up the soup.
You do know the data they are referencing in the article was produced by a government agency, right?
How does the 30 minute rule effect you? If you stop to eat you just complied with your 30 minute break. I agree the 14 hour rule needs to go. Then most of our problems would be fixed.
U got eld u stop wedge off drive again park ,real simple
If you live so close to the edge that eliminating a 30 minute break every eight hours would make a huge difference in your pay then it’s time to look for a new job. I take 30 minutes every two hours and still complete 11 hours driving no problem. Been doing it for many years.
Just what we need. More federal regulations. Seriously?
😂
Article hit the nail on the head. More Gov. involvement NEVER a good idea.
Article hit the nail on the head. More Gov. involvement NEVER a good idea.
Driver pay started dropping when the railroad started hauling trailers. This is why there is a push for autonomous trucks. Then the only need for a human driver will be for local pickups and last mile deliveries.
R u going to sit in a automated truck hell with that
That’s wonderful if you don’t mind your time sensitive or perishable products sitting on a siding in Kansas for three weeks.
Who came up with this last mile crap? A delivery is a delivery, whether to a warehouse or an end user.
You guys are all looking at the trees and failing to see the forest…..big outfits buy more trucks than they have drivers for in hopes of being able to get more business, because everybody knows if you don’t make a penny more today than you did yesterday, you lost money….even though you didn’t
I’m guessing you’ve never heard of the food service distribution industry…
Sysco runs trucks so broken that they have no transmission 1st-5th, gotta start rolling in 6th every time you stop. Real fun when hauling 20k lbs of groceries in a 42″ reefer. They don’t even have spare trucks, 1 per driver, that’s it. Shareholders don’t want their money wasted on “unnecessary” expenses LOL
Drive,a train
I have worked for every major TL carrier and they all cheat drivers out of pay. Period.
What we need is a nationwide truckers strike. Especially the O/O.
Sinc it impacts their pay more than anything or anyone,make your presence known, voices heard, and action proven.
Exactly. I’ve been screaming this for years .
People have changed.. they are no longer willing to put up with what the industry offers. Where in the old days drivers would line up to drive a truck with a chrome bumper.. they don’t even put chome on trucks anymore. There is no benefit to driving anymore, there is no sense of pride, there is no give back from the industry and there damned sure isn’t anything on the services who used to cater to drivers. It’s all about taking money from a captive audience. I have been in the industry since the early 80’s.
If all you drive for is pride, how do you pay bills? I for one could not care less about lights and chrome. A truck is a machine, there’s nothing special about driving one. I make my money thru reliable service, and I decide who I want to deal with. If it isn’t in my best interests, I don’t do it.
Yeah, I’ve had a commercial license since 1977
I drive for free love to go places and hang out
Just when I thought I heard it all now this. You got any and everybody trying to drive a truck nowadays. If the truck’s would shut down for 3 days they would be singing a different tune. Smh. This country couldn’t last a week without truck drivers everything in a house or store comes from a truck.
There is no driver shortage. Just a shortage of drivers who will put up with the crap AND crappy wagers the mega carriers offer.
As far you all speaking on pay I can’t agree with. I’m a owner operator and my drivers makes 1k or more most the time. Sometimes I even take the hit on slow weeks. I have a friend who also is a owner operator who pays his drivers 40% of the pay made that week after fuel. I couldn’t afford to do that tho lol. Point I’m making is most drivers trust the “BIG” company before their hard working brother then when the “BIG” company screw them they blame it on everything but the truth. Most truckers put to much trust in these big companies
1k sucks, wondering do you supply benefits? or is your driver a 1099’er?
1099, and 1979 peterbilts, do you need a job? You can start at 12% of the load.
1099s and you’re supplying the trucks..? Sounds like a real legitimate operation you’re running there 😀
$1000/wk on a 1099 is a rip off. They’re probably gone all week on top of it. People like you and the greed infesting your souls are what’s wrong with this world.
Wow they must drive cabovers
Been saying this since the late 90s, when the first “driver shortage” calls started: ATA companies tend to be tractors in lots of 500 or 1,000. They are delivered to their yards around the country. You go by and see a hundred or more empty trucks on their yard. This creates the illusion of a driver shortage, because there’s a glut of equipment.
Then, the companies get new drivers by offering massive incentives to join, trying to fill those trucks – but there’s not enough freight for these drivers to run, so they sit. After a while, they get tired of being sat and quit, resulting in a glut of empty tractors at comparably yards.
Adding to this problem, the ATA companies cut rates on bids to get contracts that are not enough to run their trucks, so the companies try to broker them out to independents, many of whom take the cheap freight. (Maybe as a backhaul to defray their cost going to another good paying load, maybe because they have no idea how to run a business, maybe …) This leaves even less freight for the ATA company drivers to haul, so they sit, and they quit.
Any “driver shortage” that’s out there is solely the creation of the ATA companies who order too many trucks, don’t have the freight, and don’t pay the drivers.
ATA companies are the megacarriers – JB Hunt, Werner, Swift, England, Schneider, Crete, etc.
There is most certainly a driver shortage. The problem the liars have is in stating the truth. The shortage is NOT with your novice steering wheel holders. The problem is in finding solid Experienced drivers out here. We are where the shortage lies. There is most certainly a shortage of safe, experienced, insurance friendly drivers who don’t need their hands held every second of the day. Stop lying to people. With the scenario this being presented hear consumer costs are going to go up not down
Moderation is forcing me to break up my comment.. Part 1:
Been saying this since the late 90s, when the first “driver shortage” calls started: ATA companies tend to be tractors in lots of 500 or 1,000. They are delivered to their yards around the country. You go by and see a hundred or more empty trucks on their yard. This creates the illusion of a driver shortage, because there’s a glut of equipment.
Part 2:
Then, the companies get new drivers by offering incentives to join, trying to fill those trucks – but there’s not enough freight for these drivers to run, so they sit. After a while, they get tired of being sat and quit, resulting in a glut of empty tractors at company yards.
Part 3:
Adding to this problem, the ATA companies cut rates on bids to get contracts that are not enough to run their trucks, so the companies try to broker them out to independents, many of whom take the cheap freight. (Maybe as a backhaul to defray their cost going to another good paying load, maybe because they have no idea how to run a business, maybe …) This leaves even less freight for the ATA company drivers to haul, so they sit, and they quit.
Part 4:
Any “driver shortage” that’s out there is solely the creation of the ATA companies who order too many trucks, don’t have the freight, and don’t pay the drivers.
ATA companies are the megacarriers – JB Hunt, Werner, Swift, England, Schneider, Crete, etc.
While at Crete, saw a report from ATA, they were pushing 15% drivers from outside the states so as to keep drivers pay low. It worked. Kept pay so low that drivers got off the road.
Last time I checked john Robert’s with JB Hunt made 42 million as year. He has the nerve send letters at Christmas Time to drivers to seek govt benefits because they don’t make enough. This was 5 yrs ago for 2 Christmas.
Apparently the moderation algorithms don’t like the phrase “massive incentives”!
I worked 90 hours last week got 900 bucks. Was a bus driver before trucking never worked more then 35 hours and made 600 bucks. Its pay.
One could argue if the article has merit or not. Maybe there are drivers out there, so therefore there is no shortage, however they are not driving and most fleets are looking to hire drivers. The article simply says pay more for drivers and the problem is solved. As a small fleet owner my experience says that is way over simplified. Over the past year and a half I have lost our two biggest customers due to rate changes; brokers (necessary evil?) drive rates down to bare minimums. Our two largest expenses are fuel and payroll, which take turns at number 1 depending on fuel prices, and for most fleets are paid in seven days. I would like to do nothing more than pay our drivers more, however I can’t get the rates needed to do so. The only thing I want government to do is get out of the way, and tort reform to real in the ambulance chasers which causes a huge over cost to our industry.
To many regulations and lower wages makes people to leave their jobs….any kind of job.
Same rules apply here.
EXACTLY
Ok, if there were a driver shortage, like out here in the oil field, they start paying more until the load pays. In Ndakoda Schneider tried to bring drivers in for half the avg pay for the area. Drivers got up there, discovered $90k pay. Within a year Schneider pulled out. They had a driver shortage because driver pay was low
Po[ice or highway petrol force driver to quit or change, all nonsense were done by D O T . we driver work hard to have better life for us and our family, not to take care of highway petrol or D O T . why to work so hard to take care of D O T OR INTERSTATE POLICE. beside that in the COURT JUDGE never like to listen driver.
It’s interesting how folks at the federal government can diagnose a problem they created. The BLS states that the staffing problems encountered by trucking companies are due in part to competition in the marketplace. Yet, the intent of federal deregulation of the trucking industry 40 years ago was to increase competition and lower prices for consumers. The unfortunate reality is that it worked too well and lower prices for consumers are made possible from lower wages. Another unintended consequence of government action.
THE MEGA CARRIERS CREATED THEIR OWN SHORTAGE OF DRIVERS WHEN THEY FOLLOWED SUIT AFTER SWIFT AND LEARNED THAT IF SWIFT CAN SCREW THE DRIVERS OVER AND BEAT THEM OUT OF THEIR MONEY SO CAN WE.WELL IT STARTED TO CATCH UP TO THESE MEGAS AND EARNED THEM A BAD NAME. NOW PEOPLE ARE GETTING SMARTER WITH THE INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET AND CHECKING REVIEWS. JUST TAKE A LOOK AT SWIFTS AND ITS AMAZING THEIR EVEN IN BUSINESS PERIOD.
Lol exactly
THE WHOLE REASON SWIFT STARTED THIS SCREW THE DRIVERS OVER WAS BECAUSE THEY HAD TO MAKE UP THE DIFFERENCE FOR UNDER BIDDING THEIR COMPETITORS TO STEAL AWAY THE CONTRACTS WICH THEY DIDN’T CARE IF THEY MADE A PROFIT BECAUSE THEY ALREADY HAD IT PLANNED THAT THE DRIVERS WOULD FOOT THE BILL BY CHEATING THEM WITH LOW PAY AND EVEN NOT PAYING THEM AT ALL. I WILL NEVER FORGET THE DAY I MET A SWIFT DRIVER AT A WALMART DC AND HE WAS TELLING ME HOW HE COULDN’T EVEN BUT A PACKET OF RAMON NOODLES. HE WAS IN TEARS!!! I TOLD HIM TO QUIT AND GO ELSEWHERE. I FELT REALLY BAD FOR THAT DRIVER AND WAS PISSED OFF THAT A COMPANY COULD TREAT PEOPLE THIS WAY!!!
Swift promises $50 Bucks a day for three days of Orientation! Then, take 6 weeks to pay you for it ! Then, they ONLY Pay you $149 vs. the Even $150 ! You figure they do that to a few thousand people, they just put a few thousand EXTRA dollars in THEIR Pockets!!! Plus, when you call Arizona about it to inquire! They instantly Lie and say “who we put that on your Comdata Card! However, when you tell them “That’s impossible” Because your Comdata Card was NEVER Activated. (Because you had heard about them and went somewhere else!) They instantly put you on hold for like 10 minutes and then come back an say “oh we’re sorry, we can send that in the form of a check for you” Then they take another week to get the check to you!!! and like I said; Instead of paying you the $150, they pay you $149, “stealing” a Buck from you ! So I agree with you about Swift Jason!
Yes indeed
Of course it’s bs, if there was a shortage then we’d be getting paid more than the slave wages we get now. I’m OTR and I make less than minimum wage.
Then why on earth do you work there? Why would anyone work for less than minimum wage when you can get minimum wage anywhere else? Hell, you can go to work at Walmart with no skills and make $11 an hour!
Laurie, I heard that same general comment when I was in the military….we’re on call, 24/7, so when you divide the pay by the hours we’re making less than minimum wage.
Sorry, I’m not buying into that crap.
I am single and have no real reason to go home. I can relaz and take my 34 at a truckstop as well as at home. I would be tickled to have a steady run between Alabama and Los Angeles, coming home long enough to pay my bills, and back at it…
Why do people say things to themselves like this? It’s crazy to make yourself hate your job by your own negative thinking!
Cyrus Curenton
Selma, Alabama
I’ve known this was a fake shortage for years.
The bottom feeder Mega Carriers are no different than the Big Tech companies who make false claims of worker shortages in order to lobby for cheap foreign H1B VISA labor.
The Bottom feeder Mega Carriers pay the ATA to lobby to flood the trucking industry with idiots from third world. Way too many of these H2B VISA workers aren’t potty trained, have low IQs, wash their feet in the sink, take their half hour in the fuel isle, and litter our country with piss bottles, and bags of feces which is new thing to the trucking industry. Thanks ATA!
All these decades of claimed shortages, but pay was stagnant only till recently.
Me and my buddy entered this industry together at age 25, we are now thirty and realized that the industry has turned to utter garbage within that time. Guess what, we’ve been working on an exit strategy and then guess what again? It worked, it paid off, we’re gone in two weeks…ain’t no way We gonna put up with an industry runned my a bunch of imbeciles…we’re too smart to work under brain farts.
Runned? You’re too smart?
My, my….you aren’t smart enough, Kenny
You are though, right? Seeing as you can’t even recognize an auto-correct typo 😀
The trucking industry is doing a lot but respectful to drivers isnt one. We over worked and underpaid not only that but your trucks are so slow that you are penalized for being late but you truck is governed at 62 or 65. Than they trick you into coming in for orientation for a dedicated or as promised route and send you to the opposite way. And I can add that sexism and some bigotry is still a huge issue. I worked for Swift they gave 3 lemons and when i tried to report it they came up with the dumbest excuse to can me. Not only that but the gps systems are accurate so you have to teach the new kids to use a map because that alone could avoid alot of bs. There arent any consequences for 4 wheelers following closely or dipping in front of us. Then you want to put a camera in someone face all day and expect them to perform well and it feels as if ppl looking and listening to you all day not cool. The bonus isnt ever honored. You give us ELD to fight traffic all day and some of the roads arent even updated Alabama. The Atlanta traffic is like drving in Germany. The love for driving trucks is starting to be taken away because youre directing the attention toward the drivers penalty rather listening to driver. And could you please mention to the the company of the age of the truck there should be a limit on that alone if the truck is the shop 4 times a month it should be junked. If you going to step in please do it the right way and start with Swift first because they do what they please and ruin alot of peoples lives and career at a wim.
I started driving as a trainee at Wiley Sanders, Troy, Alabama in 1990…
I started out because I wanted to earn more money, but later on I moved to other companies because Wiley, in 1992, started making us match our logs 100% to the qualcomm printout…
Several “old hands”, safe drivers since wayback, lost their jobs when they drove 15 or 30 minutes over to get home…
(Who in their right mind is gonna be 15 or 30 minutes from home and stop for 8 hours???)
That was the reality of driving under the Qualcomm.
I almost lost my job when, in the San Antonio Petro, I arrived late at night and parked where I could. A driver woke me up after a few hours and I moved to a real space up front.
That move activated the Qualcomm and busted me, and I started looking for a non-qualcomm company.
Most companies I worked for, I didn’t ask how much I made. I went there because of nice trucks or because I liked their loads or a personality conflict with somebody at Wiley…
Right now I’m pushing 63 and I’d like to be driving, but I can’t adapt to the computerized logging.
I know from 25 years OTR and local that it’s not possible to match the road and traffic conditions with the computer that says I should be able to make a run in X number of hours.
Given the freedom, I’m good for about 700 hub miles a day. When I get sleepy, I AM GONNA SHUT DOWN….I’m at the sarcastic age that some little college boy snot nose is gonna make me run beyond my physical limits….
I hear that accidents are increasing under the new computerized logging. And I’m not surprised.
At Wiley, I found that I had to drive like a füçķïñ MANIAC to try to maintain as close to 70mph average speed, or I’d wind up having to stop driving when I was 30 minutes from my delivery or pickup.
Also, YOU CANNOT take your break at a shipper or receiver.
So, you park down the road and when u get the call to back in to door 25, you move a couple miles, activate your clock, bust your break, and once you’re loaded you’re already several hours into your 14…
It’s a no-win situation.
If I went back to driving I’d run for a guy who runs older trucks, so as to get past the ELD b/s…
I’d run legal, and all my fuel and bills and tolls would match my paper logs, but the nit-picky b/s would be a part of somebody ELSE’S life….
Wiley, y’all have any old trucks with a blower on them, that you’d trust me to pull pneumatic tankers? Hahah!
Clean mvr….
Cyrus Curenton
Selma, Alabama
Oops! That line about college boy snot nose should read that he is NOT gonna make me run beyond my physical limits.
You’re wrong. Trucking companies spend a fortune on new-driver related incidents and service failures. New drivers are far less productive in terms of knowing their customers’ policies, where to park, efficiently using their HOS and not hitting something (insurance). Think about the cost of constantly hiring fresh meat (man hours and cost to lodge, feed and train new hires). Raising driver pay won’t necessarily retain experienced drivers because it is never raised far enough (pennies). The industry is so cut throat and margins so thin that if one company decided to pay above average they would be out of business so they all suffer “labor shortages” together.
The proble here is simple . We are all now victims of the same strategy and dedication Jimmy Hoffa had when organizing the Teamsters. The federal government and the ata have been staying solid on their claims on both sides of the coin. In the meantime we continue to drive hoping one of the 2 sides wins and we eventually get something out if it in the end .
We dont need a paid union or government agency to have a voice in the government. All we need to do is get back to the old school days and unite as brother drivers , stop taking substandard pay and refusing to drive until we get what we came into this industry for.
To all my fellow drivers out there …. I truly appreciate you for who you are and what you do to support my family while I’m out here driving and for helping me support my country’s entire infrastructure , because without you everything stops.
The last time I saw unity on that scale was back in 2000. Swift had just bought out M.S. Carriers. The next day after it flashed over the Qualcomm three hundred fifty drivers pulled into terminals and quit on the spot. We used to get $100 extra for loads delivered in NYC. Not anymore. I loved M.S. Carriers because regardless of its size you knew you were cared about and you felt it. That was nearly twenty years ago and to this day I still despise Swift.
Mike Starnes sold out to the biggest pimps in the industry.
I was with Digby almost 2 years when swift bought them. Not a lot of good driving choices in the Phoenix area back then. I lasted about 7 months. I would rather be unemployed and broke than to ever go back to swift. Mega carriers are a great starting place for newbies out of school. They get to see the worst at first and with some good luck, can move up. There are some carriers that are great for beginners, but getting in with a good one depends on the new driver attitude and appearance. The quality of drivers was better back in the day. The camaraderie was way greater than today. New drivers today are not taught this and that is one of the reasons we are having a shortage of GOOD candidates today. There is a big difference. If the big carriers would pay more and treat new drivers with more respect and teach newbies instead of making them feel worthless then the industry would flourish.
Government publishes stories and articles a lot but they think they are experts in everything. Truth is the government only publishes what big corporations’ lobbiests want them to publish to stay in control of everything. Who ever is the greediest will most likely make the rules.
I remember that, and during the following several weeks there were many more that refused to work for Swift and also quit. A steady downhill slide for the drivers that stayed on. When the recession came
in 2007, they were forcing the higher paid, most experienced M.S. drivers out! It’s unbelievable what Swift has done to the driving industry!
Mike Starnes built M.S. Carriers up by treating his people right only to have it all destroyed by Jerry Moyes!
True that. Same thing withDigby. Most quit on the buyout. Swift was terrible how they treated their drivers… like slaves. The only drivers that made a good paycheck were the trainers. Even with that a lot of the newbies coming out of their school would quit before their road Training was complete.
Hello we’re from the government and we will tell you what your industry needs, don’t worry that we actually don’t know anything about your industry.
Maybe if these trucking companies would stop firing their drivers or if they could prevent them from quitting….. them maybe the driver shortage myth wouldn’t exist!! If that is the case then why are they trying to push for the self driving trucks to be out on the road?? I can’t hardly wait to retire and get the hell out of the trucking industry!!
The harsh reality is that drivers are a commodity, just like any other form of labor, or for that matter like lumber or bushels of wheat. I don’t say that to demean drivers but to acknowledge the laws of supply and demand. Ultimately, the only, and I repeat, only, thing that will or ever has increased driver pay is the supply of and demand for drivers. Period. As a retired small fleet owner, I increased our driver pay to obtain and retain quality drivers. Having good equipment, treating drivers well, and accommodating their needs were all important to most drivers, but the only thing that really worked consistently to convince drivers to come to work for our company was to pay more money. For our business to be viable, ( and I mean profitable, because we were in business to make a profit ), if our costs increased we had to increase our rates, and if our customers needed or wanted our service they would agree to reasonable increases. There may be some exceptions to this, but not many. Whether it is consumers shopping at Wal-Mart or multi-national procurement, decisions are made based on value as perceived by the buyer, and companies “buying” driver services are no different. Ultimately, it is up to the driver to make his or her decision about where they work, and the only thing drivers can effect is the supply side of this equation. Each individual has the responsibility of making their own choices and dealing with the consequences, and hopefully improving their lot and that of the people they care about.
Very well written. I commend you for making the driving positions that your smaller company offered to be pretty desirable for drivers who were fortunate enough to capitalize on your offer. That is exactly the same formula that I have always imagined that I would utilize for the smaller company that I had intended to build. Take good care of that top asset the driver and he/she will take care of your customers and equipment etc.
Well the problem is that younger drivers don’t want to work like the previous generations, our company I work for is that no one wants to do the job, multi stops and coast to coast either it’s like this new generation is lazy with no work ethics nor has the desire to better their life
The ATA is drivers enemy #1, they work for the big corporations, the job of the ATA is to put $$$$ on the big companies pockets.
What every driver should is find themselves a good o.o. Like did who is fair and pays a fair wage rather it’s per mile or percentage pay. That’s what I did I run ltl freight from Atlanta Georgia to Dallas tx with usually 4 drops in the Dallas area can get all 4 the same day reload the next and back to Atlanta 5 day week and I make anywhere from $1900 to $2300 a week. Granted I’m payed on a 1099 But that’s if you find good tax man like I did it will workout. I pay my own insurance which is $77 a week so even after insurance&taxes im still better off than being with midsize or large carrier and I’m not birddogged all day.
NO DRIVER SHORTAGE. YOU HAVE SOME TRUCK COMPANIES THAT HAVE HIGH TURNOVER RATES BUT THAT’S DUE TO DRIVER PAY AND HOW THEY TREAT THEIR DRIVERS. WHERE ELSE CAN YOU WORK 70 HOURS A WEEK, ALMOST DOUBLE WHAT A NORMAL PERSON WORKS. WHEN ALL SAID AND DONE A FAST FOOD EMPLOYEE MAKES MORE PER HOUR AND IS HOME EVERY NIGHT WITH LESS STRESS.
I’ve believed for a very long time that the so called driver shortage is mostly nonsense. Trucking companies want to avoid real pay Iincreases at all costs. Wages haven’t moved up in any real way my entire 25 year career.They want an excuse to go after foreign drivers, and put 18 year olds in big rigs.
I think the gist of it is that the so called free market is a fantasy. Market manipulation out the wazoo. Collusion on rates and driver pay everywhere. The powers that be in this industry spoon feeding the media bogus stories, knowing drivers see it. It’s all meant to scare us into submission, and bring us to heel. And so many of us drivers are dumb enough to believe everything we are told, or we read. Anyone who thinks the big players in this industry are stupid is a fool.
It’s a dirty industry. Get used to it.
The U.S. government, no matter which part of it doesn’t want people to know the truth about the truck driver shortage. Why? You may ask? Because exactly as they themselves explained how a particular workforce worker shortage is fixed is to increase the wages until the problem is solved. The last thing that the dept of labor wants to happen is that the American “professional” truck driver get proper pay for the “overwhelming” services that we provide. 1st clue ? Other than the American Farmer, what other single occupation did the U.S. dept of labor long ago categorize as ” unskilled labor” If you answered the American Trucker, you are correct. Why in the world would the dept of labor do that? One simple answer, just like farmers truckers aren’t paid (any) type of overtime compensation, whether we work 41 hours per week or 70 hours per week, the pay remains the same for hour 69-70 as hour 1-2. People that may or may not know the ins n outs of trucking, we are demanded, by that same government entity, the dept of labor, to know many different rules and laws etc. and to keep and maintain records of hours of service, ie. when you drive or when you are loading/unloading, when you sleep etc. etc. We must wear many different hats in order to be a trucker, orders ^ pun intended ^ handed down by the government, to unskilled laborers whom by definition, should not even have the capability to understand even a fraction of the demands put on us by that same government that wants us listed legally as “unskilled labor” . Is this a product of Greed, that they must put the American Trucker into that occupational category? This is in my professional truck driver opinion the sole reason that the dept of labor and the U.S. government wants the subject of : driver shortages: kept quiet or when its brought to light it is simply not true, there is no truck driver shortage in America. If the American people, thought for one moment that their Cheerios, might not make it to the grocery store shelves, or that toilet paper might not make it either, because of the truck driver shortage, all hell would break loose. Rant complete, thank y’all for your time, Sincerely Tony H. American professional Trucker 28 years and counting.
This is just my opinion but if drivers were paid by the hour , say 20.00 an hour like most local drivers and get rid of a lot of the federal regulations , the roads would be a lot safer. Start the crash dummies at 20 and experience at 30 ,the drivers wouldn’t have to push themselves to the point of putting themselves or others at risk. The dispatchers however would explode not being able to treat drivers like trash and yelling hot load all the time.
Whoever wrote this article needed a story written on false claims and no,proof to the claim. Not to mention they didnt even proof read their own story.
These companies cause their own shortages they make more money
turning students then actual freight
only been driving since Dec. but already set to throw in the towel and move on. What a nightmare of a job!
Move on, It not only the company’s, but also the drivers you have to put up with. Truck driver are the bottom of society. Go get a Real man’s job. You will love yourself for it. Truck driver cry about everything, then turn around and drive for nothing and take it out on over drivers in the truck stops.
As a small fleet owner, what I see is owners having a hard time finding a driver that will keep the left door shut and put in the time. I pay my drivers 25% of gross. I always try to keep the trucks in a position to make at least $1k a day at absolute minimum. Reality is that they stay closer to 12-1500 a day if drivers will watch there time and actually drive. But that seems too hard to find these days. It seems as if the industry mindset has started to lean towards bankers hours while still making 80k a year and if that doesn’t happen, it’s all the carriers fault.
I work for a small fleet-drove for them for six years, now I hire drivers and work with the safety dept. Your comment is the most accurate assessment of the current conditions. It is not generational, either-all age groups seem to have the same issue you describe. I have had my CDL for 30 years and I can’t believe the behavior of some drivers these days.
The propaganda that the carriers propagate is also a lobbying tool of the carriers allowing the secure minimum wage exceptions and other concessions along the way. The courts however are beginning to address this and the lease purchase scam making drivers 1099 contractors
Consider the source – Chao has a life long pattern in many arenas of having misleading numbers, statistics, and costs to garner support from whatever groups will contribute to whoever’s campaign she feeds.
Driver shortage means more people to swindle bcs of knowledge of the indusrty.
We educate the new drivers by using the old drivers.and that is a union.
Have you heard of “make a freind not break a friend.”
Then “make a truck driver; not break a truck driver.”
Truck driver is a Transporter = Port of LA & Port of LB. 🚛🚚🏗🇺🇸
Bte
I’ve been saying this for years. The Big Carriers don’t want experienced drivers just cheap labor to hold cost down. That’s why we have so many truck accidents. Raise freight rates and driver pay and they’ll keep good experienced drivers and lower their insurance cost.If the government hadn’t deregulated the trucking industry I would not have been able to buy my own truck and get my own authority. Now if we can just get better rates, I can make a descent living.
I was saying that for years. Greed drive America
It’s not the trucking company’’s, it’s the truck drivers, it’s all in your hands. Only you have the power to put a stop to all this. So do something about it, or shut up.
We should have a, stop truck day ,demanding more pay for our efforts. These bloated fat ticks. That grind drivers like meat , need to be taught a lesson. Set the breaks and idle off a day or two-three ,to bring the cheap greedy skinflints to there knees. They have taken more away from the driver ,and bog us down with over micromanaging .
I agree pay driver more and owner operator more per mile and stop jerking our driver we got family to feed and we are the one who work 70 hours a week..put 18 years old on the is going to make things worse.big carrier don’t care about driver only about there money …what we need is a real voice to fight for all owner operator..remenber trucker move America.God bless you all..
Better pay, benefits and mote jome time, all duable, and very easy fix, would retain drivers, it seens like walmart found the way on fix it. Home every week and salary from 75 up a year.. why other mega carriers dont do it, and most are luring inexperienced drivers to became owners operator? FMCSA should ban this procedure wich is a rip off.