In March 2019, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics published a report that bucked the conventional wisdom of experienced professionals in the freight hauling industry. The BLS argued that by using its analytical tools, the federal agency proved the country did not have a heightened need for more qualified CDL holders. In fact, the BLS went as far as to imply that industry leaders and people who publish the trucking news were crying wolf.
“The trade press covering the U.S. trucking industry often portrays the U.S. labor market for truck drivers as dysfunctional, citing persistent driver shortages and high levels of firm-level turnover and predicting significant resulting constraints on the supply of motor freight services,” the BLS report states. “We use three techniques to investigate the labor market for truck drivers (Occupational Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey, and issues discussed by the industry.”
The conclusions the BLS arrived at just over two years ago ran contrary to industry-leading organizations such as the American Trucking Associations (ATA) that predicted a workforce shortage of approximately 59,000 at the time. The country was experiencing only modest transportation pains at that threshold. During the height of the pandemic, shuttered businesses, manufacturing plants, and reduced imports appeared to relieve long-haul struggles. Although counterintuitive to the need for more drivers, the BLS appeared relatively safe in its assessment that freight-hauling truckers comprise only a portion of employment data.
“Finally, we point out that the issues discussed by the industry are concentrated in one segment of the overall market, that for drivers in long-distance truckload (TL) motor freight, which contains between one-sixth and one-fourth of all heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers. These findings suggest a more nuanced view of this labor market,” the BLS states.
When trucking industry professionals speak to the need for more CDL holders, the conversation is typically framed around tractor-trailer and other cargo transportation. Men and women who work long hours delivering upwards of 71 percent of all products and materials understand that stress, burnout, and quality of life play a vital role in decisions about leaving the industry. The BLS, by contrast, appears to believe truckers will simply follow the money.
“As a whole, the market for truck drivers appears to work as well as any other blue-collar labor market, and while it tends to be ‘tight,’ it imposes no constraints on entry into (or exit from) the occupation,” the BLS reports. “There is thus no reason to think that, given sufficient time, driver supply should fail to respond to price signals in the standard way.”
If truckers could be understood by a math equation or be motivated solely by money, it’s unlikely upwards of 80 cargo ships would be anchored off the coast of California waiting to dock and unload. It’s also logical to say that the boots-on-the-ground driver shortage would not have reached 81,000, according to experts at the ATA. After all, didn’t freight carriers and fleet operations just dramatically increase truck driver salaries and begin offering sign-on bonuses?
Source: finance.yahoo.com
Broker transparency is and always will be a problem for truckin! Brokers have no equipment, take no risk from home/office and doesn’t do the work but yet wants the highest profit. And if they can’t book the load at their profitable rate they complain to the shipper it’s a driver shortage. Diesel in some areas are $4 a gallon but the freight rates continue to drop. The government is far aware of this injustice and refuses to do anything about it because they put them in the position in the first place. These freight brokerage firms have built million dollar companies off the backs of independents who can barely maintain keeping equipment serviced! But this problem will be ignored like the others, and brokers will continue to add their part to the driver shortage! Welcome to the united snakes of america!
Wonder if they updated delay pay, too? It’s just like the old example of a company offering more per mile and then having you sit for three days waiting for a load…
Driver safety issues, pay, and respect are reasons for myself not driving anymore. My company has consistently refused to do anything about our safety and in fact has gotten more unsafe. I will retire before I go back to them. I am tired of having someone with no driving experience trying to tell me he cares. I could go on and on, but think I’ll just stay home until something is done.
There is no driver shortage. The ports have been hiring illegals under NAFTA to come in & take American jobs for years by never raising rates. The Port UNIONS are milking the clock longer n longer. And the DOT lowered the Blood Pressure part of the physical from 160/90 to 140/90 where 99.99% of drivers passed by being within that range. Now they have 3 ranges of hypertension within tjat 140/90 so Drs. n pharmacies make $$$ by prescribing BP Meds. The farmers only hire NAFTA companies with low rates unattractive to American drivers but great for them. Dirt haulers make no $$$$, FedEx Contractors don’t pay their team drivers for each hook/drop nor do they pay days on end waiting time for teams like in ATL or Mississippi only my the mile. They putting everyone into automatics instead of manuals as well. And with Biden giving the country away. Nope! There is no shortage. YES! Pun intended.