This has been some topic of debate for some time. Since the 1980s.
The thing is that labor shortages don’t last 30 to 40 years. There are almost 2 million CDL drivers the world over, and those numbers have only grown over the years. While it is true that the average age of truck drivers has been cited anywhere from 45-55 years of age and are starting to inch toward retirement, there are plenty of blue-collar workers transitioning to truck jobs as the availability of other jobs have dried up in the wake of the 2020 pandemic.
What most statistics talk about when they speak of “the truck driver shortage” is long-haul truckers. An estimated 300,000-400,000 long haul truckers work in the United States. There are about 450,000 new commercial driver’s licenses issued each year, and most of them go into long-haul trucking. See the problem with the math?
The problem is retention. Many who start long-haul trucking simply don’t stay in it. Entry-level trucking jobs are typically described as abysmal. Living on the road, lack of proper nutrition, exercise, restrooms, and hygiene, all of this adds up. Long-haul truckers are paid by the mile, about 52 cents a mile on average, and they only get paid for the miles they drive. Not the sleeping in their bunks overnight or the time it takes for loading and unloading.
There are regulations to how much a trucker can drive in a day, so truckers may only get paid for however many miles they can drive in 8 hours, regardless of the weather or traffic or any other dangers. This does not make the retention problem any mystery.
So what can be done? Much of that comes from a change of completely controllable solutions.
Suggestions include:
- Shortening routes. Drivers can drop off loads along shorter routes, even one to the other, to improve the quality of life for truck drivers, and quality of their routes.
- Pay adjustment. Truck drivers should be compensated for the time they aren’t spending building miles. Truck drivers do a lot more than drive. They should be compensated. Flat rate bonuses, safety bonuses, and things like weather should be considered.
- Attracting new drivers. Paying for CDL training and aiming to attract underrepresented drivers like women could make a big difference.
- Strengthen workplace environment. Managers and company drivers should be encouraged to keep talking long after hiring, keeping communication open between all channels is a fantastic way to encourage keeping the drivers these companies have.
Sources: Is There Really a Truck Driver Shortage, Truck Driver Shortage Solutions
The people who keep saying there’s a driver shortage are the same ones who most take advantage of their drivers through low mileage rates, unreliable dispatching, etc. Its not wonder their retention rate sucks! What they really need to say is “There’s a shortage of drivers willing to work harder but earn the equivalent of less than minimum wage”.
My suggestion includes only one thing: Unionize!
Shortage of drivers = shortage of trucks on the road = higher prices per load = motive for paying drivers crap.
I agree Jeremy. There is a truck shortage, for sure but OTR drivers, nah.
I think we need to remember that instituting some ridiculous Federal mandated AB5 rule will kill the trucking industry. Us O/Os need the ability to carry for whomever we choose. They don’t need more regs on drivers, they need more restrictive measures on the brokers that abuse a drivers time clock. Drivers are maxed out on reg.
They SHOULD require anyone with a business visa who obtains a CDL a mandatory 3 month minimum of schooling.
The only “driver shortages” are because
1) the ATA companies buy trucks by the hundred-lot, 500-lot, or thousand-lot, then can’t hire enough drivers to fill those trucks – and they then have hundreds of unused tractors in their lots. Then, when they do manage to put warm bodies into those trucks, they don’t have the freight base to keep those drivers running, and they move on. And both times the ATA companies holler “DRIVER SHORTAGE!!”
And
2) many companies are hiring foreign drivers; these companies can get away with paying them even less than the new drivers from the US. Why pay a new driver 30¢ a mile, when you can pay a foreign driver 21¢ a mile, and the foreign driver thinks he’s making a mint??
The biggest problem is that we have a QUALIFIED truck driver shortage, one that WANTS to stay in the business.
Short runs? Nope. I’m a long haul driver, not a local driver. I want runs over a thousand miles long. I want that cross-country drive.
I’ve been doing this for 36 years now. I stay out two months at a time, then go home for a week. I love my job. (The only real tho g I hate is traffic, especially today with the “me first” mentality and the proliferation of cell phones – and the people who can’t be bothered to put them down!)
Do you have a family? Geesh. 2 months out and a week home? just drive until you die huh what a life..
The food warehouses are the worst abusers of Truck time waste . Until they have a paid cap time of say 2 hours after you are on time for your appointment , nothing will change . There should be a federal law that these creepy warehouses can’t get around . The fee charged should be high to force them to respond to their constant Trucker abuse along with outrageous lumper fees . At my warehouse { 4th largest Grocer in the U.S. } Truckers are made late because they can’t get in the gate some times for 30 minutes and then are told their late . What B.S. scammers these warehouses are !
What young person in their right mind would want to choose trucking as a career these days? Horribly aggressive traffic, angry narcissists who hate trucks, everywhere.
If I had a crystal ball 20 years ago, I would have finished my accounting degree instead of going for the instant money that trucking promised.