Recent news of Trucker Shortages

Right there is why the driver shortage is BS. Plenty of qualified people won't do it for low pay.

 

She is full of crap.

There is no shortage. I can find drivers for every truck I have twice over.

The problem is not money, it is not bonuses or anything like that, it is how the labor resources are handled, this industry has the same exact problems within the medical industry and why there is a claim that there is a worker shortage.

 

A friend of mine suggested back in Nov that pay was going to increase dramatically for OTR drivers over the next year or two and that I might want to look into getting into it.

So, 7-8 months later I'm broke, not making anything close to monthly expenses and being 58 having a hard time finding decent employment.

Now I'm looking seriously at this gig. I'm putting most of my waking hours over the last week researching and trying to gain all the info I can, as well as figure out how to pay bills like car payment, cell, at an absolute minimum and food if needed, if I go to a company school. Surviving that first couple months looks to be the hardest for me (school to first couple checks).

July 3rd I went to a private school locally here in Las Vegas. I was not impressed. Mostly because I got the spiel from a sales guy that's never driven a truck, nor really had any industry answers/insights.

I had one important question for him, maybe you guys can take it on.

Q: If all these private and company schools are churning out all these drivers and constantly hiring on a near daily basis, where does the shortage really come from? I seriously doubt trucks are being built AND purchased by these companies at a rate that far exceeds the retirement of older trucks, the retirement of older drivers, and the increase in demand for both. I could obviously be wrong, but my thought is with all the "milling" of cdl-a licenses, a large number do not last even 1 yr. If this is true, then the important question is WHY?

I pose this because on paper (and the internet) it looks feasible for me to achieve what I need. But the warning signs are there to also suggest, "all is not as it appears".

 

See the licensing and the revolving door mentality is caused by an easy to get license.

This is just a job to most in this industry, the others view it as a profession or career, but they are the minority.

The schools just get you past the CDL exam, which is so easy it is a joke. They don't teach skills to be a driver, they allow bad habits to continue and don't stress safety in the truck and on the road.

Many large/medium companies who hire new drivers figure that 40% of their new hires will screw up in the first 6 months of their employment and be out. They are geared for that, the other 60% is left with 80% of them being gone by the end of their contract, either moving onto other things or just out of the industry altogether.

The so called shortage has to do with capacity and coverage of capacity, these companies screaming about a driver's shortage want to capture every penny they can because they know when the market contracts, they want to be able to hedge against it which leaves those drivers out in the cold.

What would help all of us is to push hard for this to be a recognized skill trade, hell if cake decorators are considered a skill trade, why not professional truck driver?

 

You know what would help, HOS change back to the 1962 version with the flexibility needed to do the job.

 

^This...right here.

The 'shortage' is an accumulation of everything that could be wrong all being wrong at the same time.
Drivers generally aren't paid very well on a per hour worked basis.
Drivers typically have incredibly difficult schedules, both local and OTR.
Often the only way to improve your situation with better pay, hours, etc is to switch employers as job advancement is generally non existent.
So much of the responsibility for safety, compliance etc all falls on the driver's head. This creates awful situations where drivers have to manage pressures from employers vs pressures from the safety and law enforcement dude because in the end the only ### on the line is ours.
Trucking companies are generally pretty awful to work for. The industry is littered with giant mega corporations that treat guys like truck driving robots and small to medium carriers that offer #### benefits and run your ### ragged.
Then of course the fact that every company is short drivers means the drivers that are there have to pick up the slack.

 

Are you suggesting pressure be put on the better companies (which, not coincidentally, have more stringent hiring standards) to lower their standards?Wrong!

You messed up in your past? Go to work for a second chance company... there's already plenty of them... pay your dues, redeem yourself.

 

I didn't read all of this but unless you are actually on Americas roads 60 to 100k per year (in a heavy truck) then you really have no idea how bad they are....always....and forever and ever. I don't know who could drive them every day (as in working for a company) until retiring after 30 years!!?? LOLOL no friggin way!....therefore it is not even a option to retire from a trucking job these days. Exceptions I know! Like guys with seniority bidding on the best regional routes and making decent money...but for the most part who could do this for a few years and then see them selves doing it for another 30!?? Nope. So we should all be O'O's and act like athletes....short career=massive money as in 500k per year. Let the back end sort out who pays it. End users (US!) inevitably of course but oh well..

Now I could see doing 30 years O/O and not being out there killing yourself daily and weekly.