With Unemployment up will the Trucking Industry be flooded?

Naw, the Insurance Companies will just make their restrictions on the trucking co.s harder yet.

 

It might, but there are alot of companies not hiring right now. The freight has been slowed dramatically.

 

If Obama delivers the Infrastructure plan, I would say more people might go into the construction trades. If not, people are gonna have get good at hunting squab and rodents in the city parks.....

 

Absolutely yes, come on how can anyone think it wouldn't.

The trucking companies especially the training ones have agressive marketing for new drivers because of the benefits they et fro the gov. for retraining displaced workers.

It had already begun months to even a couple of years ago. That is why the so much non-traditional truck drivers are on the road now. Too many people are being displaced from careers and still have families to take care of.

 

There have already been tons of posts on here this year from new guys that in one way or other have stated: "I went into trucking because I lost my job, got laid off, etc. etc."

I went to school back in Jan.'08 after my textile plant I worked at moved all operations to Honduras. Most everyone else in my trucking school was there because of layoffs and most of us had been on our jobs 5-10 years. One guy had been at the same plant for 27 years before his place of work shut down.

You have already been seeing a flood of new guys that lost their jobs due to shut downs and layoffs come to trucking for a job and hoping they chose a career they wouldn't get laid off from. This won't be a new thing, it's already been happening all year! There may be more and more each month numbers wise, but it's already been going on due to unemployment for awhile.

More and more plants/factories around here in my area have been laying off and shutting down this year and pretty much, the only places I've seen hiring around here is walmart and mcdonalds and ironically, the hospitals. The good paying jobs are leaving western NC one after the other, while the only jobs being created are minimum wage types.

 

How nice, the trucking industry flooded with people who are "gettin into it" just because they need a paycheck...thats kinda scarey to think about. The familes that wont survive the lifestyle changes, we DONT need more steering wheel holders that for sure. I see it as a big problem all the way around.

 

We are already seeing this very thing. I have seen a DRAMATIC increase in people coming on here wanting a job and wanting training, etc. They will even post their entire resumes and such online in front of all to see, which is VERY dangerous to do so we have to remove that. I have never seen anything like this in my life for sure. Yup, people are coming into the industry faster than I have ever seen before. Problem is, the training companies are getting rich, then the people get out of training and THEN find out no one is hiring. I have seen this a LOT out of Florida. IF you live in Florida, you had better think real hard before you go to a trucking school! People are NOT hiring out of Florida, or very few are...and they don't want newbies...this is happening a lot. Used to be ok to do this if all else failed, but now times are changing and even the trucking industry is tightening up. If you have at least one year or more experience with an EXCELLENT record, you'll still be ok, no doubt...but those who are fresh out of school or who have a poor record are in serious trouble.

 

I'll have to agree. People that get into trucking because they are allured to the lifestyle is a totally different game than people that are coming into it because they are desperate. I already have trepidation driving on the freeways around here flooded with rookie drivers.
But - as with everything else - there are only so many trucking jobs. I talk to lots of drivers in LTL and OTR just about every day coming into our yard - some companies have more business than they can handle and others are so far down on freight that some of those drivers are not making more than a couple hundred per week right now. THey would leave - but where are they going to go?
In this industry, experience pays, at least with certain types of carriers, and that - makes me sigh at least a little bit of relief - the good paying jobs are not going to greenhorns.
What I'm at least a little concerned about is if a flood of desperados come flailing into the industry, what's it going to do to the payscale? Companies are already scourging their systems looking for ways to cut back expenses - I can already see the writing on the wall: driver pay will be the next axe to start hacking with.
Does ANYONE feel they have "job security" right now?

 

I am not a steering wheel holder! I took my job with Roehl very seriously and now take my local job very seriously. Why do you get into trucking and why is everyone always talking about pay? Never heard a trucker sit at a truck stop and say "I'm just doing this for the hell of it!"