Category Archives: CDL Driver Shortage

AMERICANS NOT SURE ABOUT CHANGES TO HELP TRUCK DRIVER SHORTAGE

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The American public appears overwhelmingly skeptical of at least two possible solutions to the trucker shortage currently blighting our nation: “nearly 71 percent of registered voters polled by NewsNation opposed lowering the required age to get a commercial driver’s license from 18 to 16. Currently, drivers have to be 18 to transport goods within a state, or 21 to transport goods across state lines.” In addition, “65 percent of Americans said they would feel at least somewhat unsafe with self-driving trucks on the road.” Read more…

MISSOURI CENTER STAGE IN TRUCK DRIVER SHORTAGE

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With burnout from the mental and physical labors of truck driving, especially during a global pandemic, the American Trucking Association has predicted a possible shortage of up to 160,000 drivers over the next decade.  On the bright side, during President Joe Biden’s recent press conference regarding the industry, Missouri was among the states highlighted that are addressing the shortage, with the state raising its trucker employment rate “by more than 8% over the past year, one of just five states to do so.”   Read more…

WHITE HOUSE UPDATES TRUCKING ACTION PLAN

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President Joe Biden addressed multiple important issues facing the trucking industry as part of an update on his Trucking Action Plan (TAP), including ensuring female driver safety from sexual predators and the lack of safe parking for big rigs. The plan initially launched last December by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and U.S. Department of Transportation was to “increase the supply of truck drivers by creating new pathways into the profession, cutting red tape to expand high quality training… and laying the foundation for improving job quality to keep people in the profession.”    Read more…

IT’S A PAY SHORTAGE, NOT A TRUCKER SHORTAGE

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With long stretches away from home and family already making truck driving jobs less than desirable, low pay has compounded the trucker shortage even further.  As drivers around the country “quit their jobs en masse, the trucking industry needs an estimated 80,000 more drivers to operate optimally. That’s a historic high, according to the American Trucking Associations.” Many believe that the only way to fix this issue, as with many other industries across the pandemic-stricken economy, is to re-evaluate wages and benefits for these applicants.    Read more…

NORTH AMERICAN DRIVER SHORTAGE HAS GONE FROM MANAGEABLE TO CRITICAL

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Despite seeing them everywhere on the news and social media, truck drivers have been exiting the workforce at an unmanageable pace. An aging workforce, high cost of driver training, and high insurance premiums have all led to a mass exodus of the industry, in turn severely impacting the North American supply chain and economy. Solid messaging needs to be increased, such as how rewarding a truck driving career can be with pay much higher than minimum wage and a guaranteed job until retirement.  Read more…

AMERICAN TRUCKING ASSOCIATIONS TO JOIN 90-DAY TRUCKING APPRENTICESHIP CHALLENGE

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The American Trucking Associations – the largest national trade association for the trucking industry – is set to join the 90-Day Trucking Apprenticeship Challenge, an initiative set by the Biden-Harris administration to “launch Registered Apprenticeships as a route toward getting more well-trained drivers on the road in good paying jobs.” The program has also been created to “enhance industry training and safety standards, and support the recruitment and retention of drivers in good trucking jobs.” Read more…

COVID-19 DRIVING PERSONNEL INTO THE TRUCKING SECTOR

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While there’s a lot to be said about the global pandemic driving truckers out of the industry, there are also cases of the pandemic bringing new personnel into the sector as well. For instance, former nurse Leah Gorham says that COVID-19 made conditions “unbearable, unsafe and caused low morale amongst staff.” She wanted to find a career where she had job satisfaction, general happiness and safety, and was soon able to find these qualities by following in her boyfriend’s footsteps and becoming a truck driver. Read more…

MARIJUANA TESTING LEADING TO TRUCKER SHORTAGE

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A top Wells Fargo analyst believes that there’s more to blame than just the COVID-19 pandemic for rising costs and driver shortages in the transportation industry — “federal marijuana criminalization and resulting drug testing mandates” are a part of the issue as well. While marijuana is legalized in some states, it remains illegal in others, henceforth mandating federal drug testing for all truckers.  Read more…

HOW TO SOLVE TRUCKER SHORTAGE

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The lack of truck drivers is one of the biggest issues blighting the country’s supply chain. Poor work conditions and low pay are driving life-long truckers to look elsewhere for jobs, but experts believe that new incentives like “bonuses, weekends at home, and even free CDL training” may be the answer to lure potential new applicants. Read more…

TRUCK DRIVERS FRUSTRATED BY MORE THAN JUST COVID

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Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, United States truck drivers had already been blighted with problems such as “bad pay for long hours and weeks away from home,” but these issues hadn’t been thrust into the spotlight until the nation started reeling from supply chain issues. With tough working conditions, it is extremely difficult to retain drivers, as “the average annualized turnover rate of long-haul drivers at larger companies was 96% during the third quarter of last year,” according to the American Trucking Associations. Read more…