Anyone discussing this?

read that on Yahoo finance but the story originated from CNN money.

 

Ask any experienced driver dealing with freight (or lack thereof) in Obamaville about what the situation would be for ALL current drivers, if tomorrow, 200,000 new drivers with empty trailers hit the streets, highways, and truck stops. There is NO driver shortage and no loads going unmoved because there is a lack of trucking capacity. There is only a bunch of trucks gathering dust which is a normal business cycle as economy and freight movements go up and down. They do like the hiring tax credits, though and could care less if they have more drivers running fewer miles because they may pick up 4 extra loads from their competition next week in Atlanta because they shoved 30 new trucks into the Georgia market.

 

I think the perception of Joe public is that all truck drivers are well paid and get home often. The amount of drivers coming into the industry and leaving so quickly proves this point. They expect to make $50-60K right away and be home every week or so. The 6 weeks out and 28c per mile on 2100 miles a week comes as a shock.

 

Good. more parking for me.

 

Good truck drivers aren't treated like cattle. There is a huge difference between a steering wheel holder and a truck driver. And that's not saying all young guys are steering wheel holders. There's a lot of "old school" guys out here that aren't worth the rags they dress in. If you're a good driver, you know, can do the job safely and on time without someone holding your hand or whining and walking away every time something doesn't go your way, 9 times out of 10 you're treated with respect and paid decent. Of you're the other type, you head on over to the bottom feeders because you've burned every other bridge you've crossed. Yeah, there's a shortage of truck drivers, but certainly not steering wheel holders.

 

Theres good and bad drivers at just about any company bottom feeder or not. And the Industry has shown that it wants steering wheel holders because of the way they pay and what they pay. When have you seen that 50K to 75k potential earnings next to the average hrs you will have to work and days OTR to get it? Never. In my book even if they salaried every driver with 2 years at 50k a year they are still getting a bargain- But right now they are getting drivers at fire sale wages and they can't understand why people aren't signing up to be treated like a fool, work 90hrs a week and live on the road 11 months out of the year?

 

From the article:

Fixed (in red).

 

No such shortage exists. If it did, I would have found a driving job a year ago. Then again, it may just be where I live.