Unemployment rates may be up across the country, but not for truckload drivers. The shortage of long-haul drivers has reached record highs according to statistics recently released by the American Trucking Association (ATA). There's plenty of room out there for new drivers -- and lots of them!
A May 2005 ATA report predicted a need for an additional 320,000 long-haul drivers between 2004 and 2014. Since the release of that report, nothing has changed in the industry, driver turnover continues to be high, and the need for new drivers is now expected to keep increasing, says ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello.
The ATA reported the following turnover rates for the first quarter of 2007 (the last quarter for with data is available):
127% - Truckload long-haul drivers
102% - Truckload small carrier drivers
14% - Less-than-truckload line-haul drivers
Fewer people are choosing to become truck drivers when deciding on a profession, industry recruiters complain. Why? Recruiters cite lifestyle issues like being away from home for long periods of time, regulatory issues like hours-of-service that impact compensation, and the fact that more young people are choosing to go to college as the factors having the most impact on the trucking industry.
"Things are not getting better and there is no silver bullet to solve the problem," says Costello. "This problem is multi-tiered, and a lot of different things need to happen, including augmenting pay and lifestyle issues associated with the profession."
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