Reserve Army of Truckers?

Probably not. It's sad , but the turnover rate in trucking is terribly high. If the folks in DC don't get a hold on this immigration thing soon , in some areas of the country you might see some problems.

 

I can't recall exactly where I read the report and off the top of my head the numbers might be incorrect, but there is supposed to be over 100,000 job shortages by 2020. CDL schools are churning out plenty of drivers each day but many will quit not realizing what kind of work being a truck driver actually requires. Not to mention the older generation nearing retirement by that time and solid drivers just plain fed up with the FMCSA, the lack of respect industry-wide and the constant bs.

 

Being a truck driver is easy. Its all of the over the top regulations that make it hard.

 

Just an observation and a question. A lot of folks on the forum talk about high turnover rates at the bottom feeders - "100 %+ turnover per year", etc.

If 4 drivers start out of CDL school working for 4 different trucking companies, each changes jobs every year to go to one of the other 4 companies, then by the math each company would have 100% turnover. None of the drivers left, net gain/loss = 0, but each company had higher business costs finding other drivers and each driver probably went back to Go in their new company.

Maybe I'm wrong, but my general impression is that company drivers as a group seem to be job hoppers and are always looking for greener pastures. Maybe it's because experience or seniority don't seem to get big rewards in trucking, other than working smarter and getting more miles because of experience. The exception might be unionized company drivers.

What's an average stay at one trucking job before changing companies? How many are actually leaving the industry because of retirement, or for racking up too many accidents/incidents/problems, or leaving for other industries? What % of drivers stay at the same company for more than 2 years?

 

WE ain't nearing retirement......WE are already there!........

 

Is there an army of CDL holders without a job? Yes, but they've been turned off by all the regulations and stress. Tttdude is right that the turn over rate is so high, they can't keep drivers in the seats.

Will this change with abundance of bottom feeders? Yes, and has. And we continue to do this at wages = 1980's because of it.