A national study by the Department of Labor predicted it, companies knew it was coming and now it’s here: A steep decline in people looking to become truck drivers has occurring nationwide and it’s being felt in the region.
The American Trucking Association and Global Insight says there’s a national shortage of more than 20,000 truck drivers. According to the study, the shortage is expected increase to 111,000 by 2014 as the “Baby Boom” drivers prepare to retire, or their health no longer permits them to be drivers.
This statistic has trucking companies scrambling to find new drivers.
“We have such a demand right now. We have recruiters from many of the carriers looking around. They’re always in here,” said Jim Catheline, admissions director of the New Castle School of Trades in Pulaski, Pa.
Trucking companies and the ATA study are quick to point out that a truck driver shortage isn’t new, and it doesn’t affect all truck drivers.
According to the ATA, the economic boom of the late ’90s caused a shortage of long-haul drivers as companies struggled to keep them while giving them so much work. A 2000-2001 recession put the shortage on delay only for it to return in 2004 with a strengthening economy.
Clayton Boyce, ATA vice president of public affairs, said the shortage is mainly for long-haul drivers, not truck drivers that get home every night.
Currently, Boyce said, the shortage has received short-term help.
“We are in a bit of a [freight] slump right now,” he said, “The decline is because of the slowdown in the economy. So it will provide a temporary effect to ease the shortage.”
Boyce said he expects the economy to bounce back and the shortage to return.
Due to rigorous tests, finding a good truck driver is difficult.
Drivers are not drawn to the profession because of high divorce rates, low pay, long hours and days away from home.
While the rail freight companies are seeing improvements in shipments, they still need to come a long way in customer support and more timely delivery, trucks provide the fastes and most reliable transportation of all of the industries excluding air freight, which is costly to the end user.
Truck makers report steady increases in product creation, as old entrenched companies buy new equipment to attract drivers for their companies.
New regulations on how long drivers can drive have limited the amount of miles one travles as well, and new GPS tracking of trucks has made some drivers disinterested in the company looking over their shoulders as they drive.
The cluster of State permits, Fuel Tax and other difficult to navigate maze of paperwork also keeps a lot of people out of the market as well.
Its a problem that effects us all and will for the first time in many years since deregulation cause the cost per mile of shipped goods to increase putting the ball back in the drivers hands as fuel, insurance, truck payments and maintance costs increase.
