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The Lie that there is a shortage.... to try to get more 1st time drivers to join the trucking field so the could pay them less, if there was a shortage the rates would be higher, there would be work all year long if there was a shortage you would have good work for more than 7mos a year, think about this if we were getting paid what inflation and average market would pay for this type work, you would make way over 100k BJ & THE BEAR made a buck $1.50 a mile back in 1979 mom POP'S made $2 a mile in in the 80's something wrong with this picture
I don't believe there's a driver shortage. I haven't been getting the miles I used to get because all I hear is "There's no freight" yet our Laredo yard is full of loaded trailers. The bigger companies are insisting driver shortage so they can funnel students into their $5000 CDL schools.
Does any body remember orwell movie"1984" ? If not,maybe u should watch it!
Anyone with half a brain knows that gov't overregulation has a detrimential effect on any type of productivity, and we have a generation or 2 that believe that the government is all knowing......so sad.
I don't see freight sitting on the docks or the load boards. THERE IS NO DRIVER STORTAGE.
Who benefits from the mantra, " driver shortage, driver shortage"! If in doubt.............follow the money.
Reiterating what other's have said:
can't be a shortage or the parking would improve.............NOT it is worse than ever
can't b e a shortage or the rates would go up......................NOT, we are seeing $1.60 to $1.30 a mile rates which are the same as over 20 years ago. Therefore we go back to "follow the money...follow the money"
The same goes for the elog push. Contrary to the fmcsa's claim that elogs will improve safety, it appears to be companies like omnitracs who are lobbying for them. I ran the numbers to support this claim: Did you know that omnitracs will be the recipient of a cool $3,800,000 per year to eternity from air charges to a company like Landstar? I am also anticipating that fmcsa will eventually retract their mandate and say, "aw shucks folks, we made a mistake because safety just hasn't improved like we were "led to believe". I base this admittedly jaded opinion on the rumor that now they are admitting that DEF is NOT cleaning up the air and by 2017 DEF will no longer be required as standard equipment on trucks. Talk about putting the cart in front of the horse. IMPORTANT" OOIDA needs to be supported even more by us independents. They have already filed a petition challenging this. We are going to send them an extra
'$100 because we cannot allow the fight to die because of lack of support.
I agreed with Jim. There're NO DRIVER SHORTAGE, lots of Independent Owner Operators available and compete for lower rate. That's why the freight rate are still very low.
Pay and working conditions. Few of the Teamster carriers have a problem retaining drivers. Same with select private carriers like Wal-Mart, are just a couple of small "for-hire" who figured out that fair pay and treating drivers with respect works.
There is no driver shortage. If there were a shortage the rates would be increasing and driver miles would be maxed out every week. As long as there are trucks sitting waiting for loads and drivers getting 1500-2000 miles a week how can anyone determine there is a shortage? Want rates to increase and driver pay go up? Get rid of enough drivers so the demand becomes equal to or out paces the supply. As for now, specific segments of the industry may be having trouble recruiting qualified applicants but overall there is no shortage.
I agree pay is the big problem, but the driver shortage can be fixed without resorting to importing foreigners to fill the seats. There is a problem called driver turnover or driver churn when you have to hire people at a rate of 100% just to maintain your work force you are the problem. If the turnover/churn rate was lowered to 10% the companies would be in a win win situation they would have enough drivers without resorting to foreigners, they would have a higher class, better quality, of drivers therefore they would have a safer driving force. At that lower turnover rate just with 4 of the big carriers would have an excess of drivers to fill their vacancies, the big carriers have 15,000 drivers times 4 equals 60,000 drivers, times that by 90% equals 54,000 drivers not needed to fill the vacancies, therefore no driver shortage, it needs several things done to accomplish this, one is pay, if a worker can make $40,000.00 at an 8 to 5 then the $60,000.00 that the trucking companies are touting(witch if you read the fine print only experienced drivers can obtain if they drive the maximum miles permitted by the law, which is not obtainable with the new ELD as it counts your time driving on a lot as drive/on duty time)when these drivers come out of driving school they find out that they aren't making any more than before, so why loose your home life for no more money? The ELD is a tool for the dispatcher to micro manage you. It takes the safety out of the equation when your dispatcher can tell you that you have been sitting for 10 hours(doesn't matter that you haven't had any rest) and this load has to go, with a bullying dispatcher and a new driver they will think their job is on the line and do it unsafely!
I think the shortage has a lot to do with the young people of today, many of them don't really want to do hard work to make a living today. Many years ago being a long distance truck driver was somewhat of a romantic type of job, but the children today don't find it the type of job they want to make a career out of. The long distance driving doesn't have the lure that it use to anymore. Many people can make more money slinging burgers and get more respect also. There isn't much decent pay in driving anymore today and the regulations from the gov't. just isn't worth the aggravation that goes with it. It takes a special type of person to sit behind that wheel for many hours at a time and for not much money day in and day out, you are away from home way to much and you never see your kids grow up anymore, people today want to see their children grow up today. They don't want a job where they are gone for so long.
its because truckers are seen as dirty, fat, uneducated people. ive gotten questioned by a few security guards and employees of truck stops about being in the commercial truck driver lounge areas in the past.
just because i dont look like the average, old, smelly, big belly, cigarrete smoking, pants zipper open, grumpy truck driver, doesnt mean i dont belong there.
and also companies are not paying good enough or advertising the right way to attract the younger crowd.
when you see .30 .40 .50 whatever per mile and blah blah blah most people do not bother to do the math or don't have an idea how many miles a truck driver really goes to make sense of it.
ifvthe companies where to say that you make between $150 - 200 per day or whatever depending on miles that would make more sense to new potential drivers.
Looking at all the long time Truckers who are giving it up because of the Government's over-reach in their laws and rules,I'd have to say it's caused by the Government dictating policies they have never had to deal with from the other end. Maybe if anyone who wanted to draft Legislation regarding Trucking had to first prove they've actually DRIVEN truck for a full year first,things would be more user-friendly and logic based.
I knowe several young folk who would,and could,drive truck if it wasn't for all the new laws and regulations they'd have to learn and comply with;due to that,it's easier to just learn to work in other fields where the rules their livelihood is based on stay more constant and where changes have a directly LOGICAL reason for being made.
The same thing applies here as it does with farm workers, meat packing plant workers, etc. If pay were commensurate with the job, there would be no hint of a shortage. It is like any other commodity. One might like Gold at $500 an ounce, but one is not going to get it at $500. It is just a simple equation... the pay and benefits have to be raised to a level that attracts what you want. And also, then you can be very selective and only hire quality folks. In doing so, safety issues reduced, performance standards increased and met, and a host of other things that make the investment garner a good return. As long as it goes as it has been going, then the best are not attracted. They either are already linked up with a carrier they like, they are on to another career, or potential quality folks are not considering. Else, the only available folks are limited experience, sub par performing folks that are a higher risk and turnover a constant factor of doing things.