Driver Shortage

There is so much info on the net about this "issue", YT has a lot of vids with ppl explaining what's causing drivers to quit. Most of the topics are about pay and attitude towards employees. Waiting times not paid, home time not given, in shop time not paid, isolated life style not bearable, DOT harassment, some companies do not allow or limit phone time, cameras, etc.

 

There isn't a driver shortage. Plenty of people have CDLs. There's a driver retention issue. There are slow af warehouses and ports with lines & lots full of drivers waiting to be loaded/unloaded. There is a parts and mechanic shortage. There is lack of infrastructure/parking/etc.

 

well as a short time driver (3 years) I'll say how I see it.
I've hired, fired, managed etc. Mega's must all get kickback for training programs from the government because no way would any company in any industry treat incoming employees with the horrible business practices they do otherwise. Much of what new drivers go thru could be improved or completely eliminated IMO if the huge carriers (OTR) actually wanted to keep drivers. and the pay is not so great considering the absolute lack of home life. they act as if the mandated 34hr reset HAS to be the extent of a break. well if drivers are only disposable cogs in your machine then go ahead and prioritize having that rig rolling every possible second...at the expense of a long term driver. any other manager in any other industry knows that's self defeating.
It's a hard life. I didn't mind it most of the time, really liked it some of the time. but if I needed a social life or had kids, no deal, I couldn't have done it. the infrastructure, the trucker resources (parking, showers, actual food and/or groceries) are sporadic and there's room for a lot of improvement. I heard most CDL holders leave the industry in the first year, and I think that sounds plausible. Even local jobs tend toward 10, 12, 14 hr days. fine if I was 20 or 30, maybe even 40 but at my age I run out of steam after 10 hours. Plus I need to buy my own groceries and clean my house, I don't have a wife to take care of me so if they want single people to stay working for them maybe 8-10hr shifts should be looked at.
anyway- good job for the time I was there, but glad to go back to my old career.

 

The mega companies are running out of goat herders to import. I hear goat herder wages have tripled back home. It’s a crying shame.

They are trying to hire illegals pouring over the border but drivers must be covid free to work and those folks aren’t tested. I know right?

 

Pay has been stagnant for 30 years, 4-wheelers and traffic get worse every year in more places, the solution for every problem in the industry is for the driver to do more things for no more money, customers schedule 100 trucks to arrive but only have enough employees to service 60 trucks, there isn't enough overnight truck parking anywhere, floods of untrained & soon to leave newbies are ruining what 4-wheelers & customers aren't, etc.

The pay, working conditions, catch-22 between regulations & company/customer demands, plus the getting disconnected from friends & family are not producing enough people willing to stay away from home 80% of the year. On top of this shippers & receivers expect they can ship 20% more every year at the same rates forever.

There are exactly as many truck dri ers as the pay and conditions can attract. The industry prefers to do more for less and are willing to hire non-english speakers, ex-cons, foreign refugees, or anyone so long as they will work for less money.

 

The states license 400,000 new truck drivers every year. 90% of those new drivers quit before their first year is over. Several of the big fleets have a majority of the fleet driven by people with less than 90 days on the job.

 

I've never heard that statistic but I believe it. If it's true it's no wonder why any big chain truckstop is a bumper car track since all the megas demand that their lackeys park there. I can't believe any owner would risk parking in one of those places overnight.

 

Driver shortage is mostly from job hopping. Companies running ads needing drivers because drivers simply quit and go to another trucking company.
It's the "whack-a mole" analogy.
Do you still live in Portland, Oregon?
~
Think, everyone answering your posts are drivers and seem to agree, it's a good career or they wouldn't still be driving and posting on a truckers website.

 

FFE Transportation - Frozen Food Express

• 17600 Northeast San Rafael St Portland, OR 97230

This is a decent trucking company.
Texas residents attend school in Texas and all others are sent to school outside of Texas.