DON'T GO TO CDL SCHOOL ....

i went to a school got my cdl bought my contract out with crst and drove my own truck since day one that was 20 years ago

 

There's a driver shortage. There is more food available at the truck stop than there are drivers.

 

If there is a driver shortage, why are rates half what they were 2 years ago?

 

I really wasn't being serious lol. Since you want to be serious, that's fine. It really depends on who you ask. Big powerhouse companies with customer freight will claim driver shortage, because they've over-extended themselves in trying to monopolize the industry. Owner ops and small fleets operating off the spot market will say it's no driver shortage, because rates reflect too many trucks in that sector of trucking. It seems to be 2 different worlds of trucking, and the powers that be use big powerhouse companies as the measuring stick for the entire industry. Why? Cuz the money speaks loudly in our nation.

 

Well, I think there is indeed a driver shortage. I see at the store, when items are not on the shelf, they say, "oh, it's a manufacturers problem",,,baloney, we've all been to their warehouses with goods stacked to the roof, they can't get it from the DC to the stores. Look at the Rolodex of companies Chinatown posts. I don't think so much in the OTR segment, it's usually the 1st place new drivers go, but it's the local service jobs, anything that requires a shred of activity, is where the shortage is. Our local garbage pickup, the kind where the dumpster goes up and over,,,can't find drivers. Local dump trucks/excavating, nobody applies. Even the city runs ads for street/driver work, at $30/hr!,, but that requires work, nothing. Might have to get off their fat rear and use a shovel.
I think the fact that companies are now accepting felons and other seemingly minor offenses, they are to the bottom of the barrel, and are finding out, they don't make such bad drivers after all. As far as a CDL school, we have to remember, many applying are at the end of the line, last game in town, and don't realize what the job actually involves. A school for them is the only way to riches. 3/4 of new drivers quit in the 1st year, and that's a sad fact.

 

Hey 30 an hour ain’t bad. Plus ot bonus bene’s it adds up. I’d be tempted that’s for sure.

 

Letter carriers too. Had probably 3 in the last year alone. There too, I think $28/hr with benes. Nobody is applying. Once had the city PM himself delivering mail.