Trucking industry faces shortage of drivers
Despite a need for hundreds of thousands of drivers over the next decade, local companies said they are having a tough time attracting replacements for a rapidly aging workforce.
The need for more drivers is expected to become more significant in the near future, with freight revenues expected to rise as much as 70 percent over the next decade and a current shortage of about 35,000 drivers, according to a 2015 report by HireRight, a national employment services firm.
"It's not any one part of the industry, it's the whole trucking industry," said
Clark State offers a five-week course that allows students to earn their CDL. Despite entry-level jobs in the area that can pay between
"Enrollment has been small," he said. "We run classes from about nine to 12 people. We just don't see where there seems to be a big interest in people that want to be truck drivers, mainly because the job takes them away from home."
Information from a report last month from the
"These figures show us that the driver shortage -- which we now estimate to be between 35,000 to 40,000 drivers -- is getting more pervasive in the truckload sector," said
Several factors have made it more difficult to attract drivers in recent years, said
As many as 3,500 trucking companies nationally went into bankruptcy during the recent recession, forcing many drivers out of the field, Burch said. In addition, the industry has also seen new regulations that have improved safety, but also restricted how long drivers can operate, impacting their potential earnings, he added.
The HireRight report showed the most common reasons for drivers to leave the industry included a desire for higher pay, better benefits and to spend more time at home. It also showed about a quarter of drivers surveyed for its study noted health issues are also a factor.
"Life on the road is an extremely physically demanding occupation," the report showed. "The average life expectancy of a trucker is less than that of the general public. As the workforce continues to age, regulatory agencies will continue to scrutinize the health of drivers."
Companies are trying a variety of methods to retain and attract employees, including increasing pay, offering signing bonuses and readjusting routes to allow drivers to spend more time at home, Burch said. Pay is important, but often the benefits, time off and even the condition of the trucks are just as crucial to retaining drivers.
"You look at any other job field, it's sort of hard to find that much demand," Graves said.
"One of the things we're trying to do is go after the younger driver," Burch said. "Right now, so many times insurance companies mandate drivers be 21 or 23 years old, and a lot of times we're finding by the time they reach that age they've got some other profession and it's hard to get them."
WCA Logistics, based in
That job is becoming increasingly difficult as carriers struggle to find a lack of qualified drivers, Carter said.
Due to the shortage, drivers are beginning to dictate better terms at many companies, driving up the cost of shipping products, he added.
"It is without a doubt an ongoing and frustrating job in this day and age to negotiate what we feel is a cost-effective rate for our clients through a carrier of choice," Carter said.
Younger truck drivers are just as dedicated to the career as older drivers, Carter said, but they want to be home more often. To keep them in the field, some companies that ship freight overnight are beginning to look at routes that relay shipments to other drivers along the way. The shorter routes allow drivers to be home most nights.
One challenge smaller companies face is that insurance firms often require drivers for smaller companies to have at least one or two years experience. Large trucking firms often don't have that requirement, and can hire drivers out of schools like Clark State's.
But competition for qualified drivers is high. Woodruff typically recruits drivers through word-of-mouth, Culley said.
The demand for drivers is likely to remain a problem unless the industry can find creative ways to recruit a younger workforce, Burch said.
"This is one occupation you can't outsource," Burch said.
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