College Student Writing a Paper- Trucking pay/driver shortage

I first heard about the driver shortage when I started driving in 1985. Seems like a " problem" that can't be solved . Not enough people can be put in the trucks to do too much work for so little money. I spend over 310 days a year on the road. But I'm single,no family. Anyone who wonders about why there's a shortage would know why if they did it for a while.

 

Someone on his team should apply for a trucking job or talk to recruiters. They don't have to actually become a truck driver, but it would be a way to see what expectations of pay are like.

 

I understand.....lol, maybe Mr. Gore was trying to scare people into changing their habits

 

If you dig around, you can find upper echelon bean counters who will admit they have no intention of running their "average driver" anywhere beyond about 60% of their "potential". They have built their business model on the idea they want far more drivers then they actually need. This insures minimal missed commitments and delivery/PU times and minimal drivers with critical Hours of Service issues requiring problematic repowers.

They know many won't make it past their probation period keeping payroll and benefits costs as low as possible, while still having a never-ending supply of "seat warmers" and keeping freight movements successfully completed.

But honestly, real OTR is not a job most will see as a promising future. Few are cut out for real OTR work, especially at the fleets who require a minimum of 21 day tours. Offering more money is really not going to help attract and keep drivers who just want a regular life with wife and kids.

The life in truck stops is miserable, and getting exponentially worse by the year with over-crowding and often just no space to park past certain hours, even though the HOS rules demand you stop and park for 10 hours. This aspect alone makes many flee the job before they ever really get started. And again, higher pay isn't going to make these problems go away.

Also, truck driving is not easy and requires a lot of developed and/or natural skills that many just can never develop. For these, trucking life is even more miserable as they struggle with even the simplest of tasks. Offering higher wages will just attract more who have no business out here, being problems for others to deal with.

Also, many are poorly trained and don't have the necessary basic core skill set to begin with. They are often poorly trained both in school, as well as in subsequent apprentice phases of work. This puts them in a difficult starting position and many get frustrated early as a result and leave before they perhaps should have.

The trucking [driver "shortage"] problem is real. There is only a shortage of people who can do the work, and do it well, enjoy it, and desire to do it for multiple years or longer. The problem is going to get worse, especially as seasoned "old-school" drivers start to drop out or assume new positions outside of OTR or conventional trucking. And there are NO easy answers.