Trucking Future???

There's going to be a shortage of drivers as the baby-boomers continue to pack it up. Possibly an uptick in wages from the companies preferring "clean record" drivers. More rules. E-logs mandatory for carriers over a certain size.

 

if company drivers were to be phased out, then driver-leasing companies will take thier place as they do now. i see no increase in the o/o population.

 

Driving a truck is considered "non-skilled labor".
Truck driving is commodity employment, like fast food workers or retail sales or resturant service workers (and the net/net pay and turnover is not dissimilar).
There will ALWAYS be the bodies to fill the seats. 3 weeks of school, 5 weeks with a "trainer" and you're on the road.
$35K a year for 80 hours a week ($8.75 an hour, no overtime pay), live in a box, see home a few days each month.
Stay clean, stay safe, deliver on time, work hard, always have a pleasant "can-do" attitude - - and eventually you can work your way up to $45K and/or get a local job making $18.50 an hour - probably touching freight - loading and unloading.

It's not a living or even a career, it's a life style choice.

It's rigged against the driver. It's engrained in the business model.

I'm anti-Union, but I'd make an exception for truckers.
They're (OTR) the life blood of our economy and they're treated poorly relative to what they accomplish.

 

Gizmo, you're a smart dude. Your posts always shed accurate insight.

I do agree with Digger in the aspect of the demand for good, clean record drivers, is going to climb. Companies will not be able to afford drivers with poor driving records, or poor CSA scores due to CSA. More and more companies looking for a trucking company to haul their freight is going to weigh a companies CSA score into who they hire.

It's imperative to keep your CSA score low. I'd advise all drivers to know the ins and outs of CSA 2010. Companies look at drivers with high CSA scores as a driver that is going to their CSA score. Because CSA 2010 is strict, a lot of current drivers are going to be forced into working for low paying companies. Drivers with low CSA scores will be more in demand, and therefor raising the pay for those drivers. The future is CSA2010, whether you like it or not.

 

The O/O sector has been thinned out some,

with the surviviors becoming smarter and more business like.

They are a huge segment of the industry, and aren't going away any time soon.

As far as company drivers go, until the freight increases, or truck capacity diminishes,

things will continue about the same..........

 

I agree this may be the case for a driver fresh out of school, and during their first year. If that driver is smart, and does a good job, there are better companies looking to pay qualified drivers a lot more than what a fast food employee makes. You're only telling a small part of the story.

If said driver is lazy, skips pre-trip inspections, and racks up tickets, and CSA points, then yes, he's going to make the same as the dude flipping burgers are Burger King. As time moves on, with CSA 2010 he'll be lucky to be in any truck with more than 4 wheels.

I think we can all agree, if you pay your dues in this business, it'll pay off later. Like most careers.

 

For my point of view o/o's are increasing and it will continue since we are getting a good numbers of educated drivers coming into Tue business with a mind set surpassing those who have only a high school diploma and the csa is really becoming and big headache for experienced truck drivers, and dispatch are on the way out since companies atleast Tue good ones believe a driver can plan his route and loads without having some
body looking above their shoulders. Driving hours will be reduced, gas trucks will fail due to their lack of range, truck stops will include a quiet zone for those who don't need or have a apu, and by 2025 there's going to be a 20 mpg truck

 

I heard Fed-Ex wants unmaned drones to drive, LOL.

 

The future of trucking as I see it:

The larger carriers will continue to undercut rates to put the smaller carriers out of business.

Fresh, new drivers with perfectly clean PSP scores will continue to be more valuable than more experienced drivers, due to both lower insurance rates and lower pay.

Traditional solo coast to coast OTR will continue to fade in favor of low paid teams.

EOBRs will become an industry-wide requirement, shutting down independent O/O's and small carriers who either cannot afford the additional costs, or refuse to operate with such devices installed. Refusal will be predominantly due to independence issues rather than a desire to run "outlaw", despite what the government , ATA, and other groups claim.

"Schools" and recruiting efforts will continue to ensure a steady stream of rookie drivers to fill seats left behind by those whohave either retired, or permanently lleft the field due to increasingly horrible working conditions.

Any questions or opinions?

 

I believe the trucking industry will stay on the course its headed now.Dot will continue to add rules and regualtions to the industry because of the money.That will never change. there will always be this division between what the drivers needs are and what the shippers and recieivers want for there product and the way they want to handle it.It is their product.
wal-mart for example tells us what to do and when to do it.If ya dont like it Bye,next.the days of running up and down the road like we want to is about over.The days of drivers coming together for anything are about over.drivers today stay in there truck on the computer or play games or talkon the phone or some have other hobbies they do alone.The truck stops will continue to be in and out.If you want something else you have to get creative in how you manage that(malls,movies,eating somewhere other than ts.)what a driver needs to do in todays industry is to adapt to all this.Most of the crying is coming from drivers who are finding it harder and harder to jump from one company to another or drivers who made bad decisions about buying a new truck to be an o/o and lost everything.The bottom line is either stick it out or get out.