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| Member |
Went to get groceries today a local Supermarket and shelves were not to bad,some empty probably because of the Holiday coming up. At check out a guy working at the store told the manager he just got a call from a soft drink company that had a special next week it could’nt delivered until next Tuesday because,no driver. So yes in some cases the driver shortage is real. | ||
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Member |
We have had a standing ad for the last six months. Starting salary around $75,000 with a $3,000 signing bonus. We are not even getting any applicants, so yes, it seems real. I've seen advertisements around here for Walmart OTR that has a starting wage of $92,000. Demand not that events should happen as you wish; but wish them to happen as they do happen, and you will go on well. -Epictetus | |||
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Equal Opportunity Mocker |
Friend of mine works as a middleman who connects shipments from folks who use railways vs OTR (truckers). He says business is good b/c truckers costs are up so much, but competitive b/c now railways can name their prices d/t limited space. So it's a shipper's market now. Drivers who once were paid 2K to drive a load LA to Memphis are now wanting more than double that in many cases, per this guy, and nothing you can do but pay them or let the load sit. So, they're getting paid. ________________________________________________ "You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving." -Dr. Adrian Rogers | |||
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Member |
There’s been a trucker shortage for years. This isn’t Covid or anything else related. Trucking is a lifestyle, more than just a job. You have to live it. Those guys and gals have been underpaid for years. ——————————————— The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Psalm 14:1 | |||
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Member |
Our drywall vendor had to start going third party to make deliveries because they can’t keep enough drivers in-house. 1/2” 4x8 sheet went up $2 last week. | |||
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Member |
The truck driver shortage started when the new driving laws went into effect. Most drivers that were close to retiring did. Many others started working local so they wouldn't have to follow the new laws. I need 250 trucks a day to keep operating, it is a challenge. Also depends on the type of truck, some are more readily available. Like it was said earlier the RR now has a lot of leverage. The RR's flat out suck, such a difficult industry to deal with. | |||
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| Member |
^^This in spades. The average trucker is a little off, doesn't necessarily work that well with others, feels eternally grieved, and certainly doesn't want to sit in staff meetings and hear things like "We must shift our operations to a customer centered model to create a synergy-focused, paradigmatic standard. Now go write a mission statement." In a different century, truck drivers would probably be drawn to a job like driving cattle from Abiline to Kansas City. In the past, OTR trucking played into that sense of freedom. You hit the road, and nobody bothered you until you delivered. Scales were relatively sparse, DOT regulations were measured and practical, and nobody really knew where you were. Now, truckers get hassled constantly by DOT enforcement, inspections, and regulations. Companies insist on tracking the truck's every movement, constantly sending messages to drivers via GEDCOM or similiar, with details as minute as where they are allowed to fuel. Overall, this is opposed to the personality that one requires to be an OTR driver. Add to this the 2018 ELD logbook, with its one-size-fits-all enforcement of the hours of service. On paper, if it was two A.M. and you were tired, you could pull over and take a nap without really facing a penalty. You just adjusted your time a little, got your rest, and went about your business. Now you must be accurate to the minute. The computer says it's time to go driving at 2 A.M.? You must now drag your sorry, tired bones out of the rack and drive. Computer says it's time to sleep at 1:00 P.M. when it's 108° outside? Stop, and set there awake for ten hours, so you can then start driving again at 11:00 P.M. after sweating your ass of all day in the sleeper. Snowing and windy, or lots of traffic, but there's no parking for 100 miles and you've only two hours left? Drive like an asshole in a snowstorm to get there before the computer says you're out of time. No flexibility at all. So what happened? The old guys (which is kinda all of us now) just said "Screw it. I'm out!" Instantly reducing the workforce by 10-15%, when there was already a shortage before. "Why not just recruit some younger people?", you ask. Not possible, because the whole world, including people on this board, insist that the whole industry will be gone in ten years due to automation. Why would you choose a career where the pundits (ignorantly) proclaim it won't be around by the time you are in your thirties? This is a perfect storm folks. Pressures have been building for years, and now people are finally going Atlas Shrugged on the job. Those who are left are the ones who HAVE to truck, not the ones who want to. The quality of the driver is therefore constantly falling, which will only lead to more regulation, perpetuating the cycle. Demand not that events should happen as you wish; but wish them to happen as they do happen, and you will go on well. -Epictetus | |||
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אַרְיֵה |
A guy I know, who is an ex-employee of mine, was in a tight spot for money. He became an OTR driver, made good bucks, quit and took a job for way less than half the pay due to all the problems, such as those stated by sigcrazy7 above. הרחפת שלי מלאה בצלופחים | |||
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| Member |
Our Granddaughters husband lost his job due to the Covid. He studied on his own (no school), got his cdla and now drives a tanker locally,home every night.The company’s starting pay is over $80,000 a year. Plus full benefits. | |||
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| Yew got a spider on yo head  |
Huh, that's alot of money. I often joke to myself when work is stressful (and it always is) "Time to call the truck-driving academy!" | |||
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| Political Cynic |
In some areas I think it’s real. In other areas such as California I think it’s self-inflicted | |||
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Member |
This is interesting and very informative - thank you all for your input! Don't. drink & drive, don't even putt. | |||
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| Bookers Bourbon and a good cigar  |
A short trip on Interstate 40 between Little Rock and Memphis would have you thinking the is no shortage. Westbound lanes were almost bumper to bumper semi trucks rolling at 70+ mph. If you're goin' through hell, keep on going. Don't slow down. If you're scared don't show it. You might get out before the devil even knows you're there. NRA ENDOWMENT LIFE MEMBER | |||
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| Thank you Very little  |
I rode to Pt Clear Alabama last weekend, 1350.2 miles round trip, 408 to FL Turnpike to I75 to I10 and back. Took some back roads to get off I75, because it is bumper to bumper semi's, If there is a shortage of trucks on the road it's not on I75, it looks like the freeways in El Eh at 5 pm all day. Same for I10, not as crowded but still lots of Semi's on the roads. | |||
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| Member |
Also remember that the drug clearinghouse went into affect recently. Over the last decade, many states have legalized the recreational use of MJ. However, a truck driver is strictly prohibited from its use, including off duty, with the industry subject to a 50% random testing rate. I believe there's lots of people who are making the choice between the occasional joint or the job, and the drug use is winning. I don't have any empirical evidence for this, but I know that the recent roll-out of the Federal drug clearinghouse seems to have made things even worse. If you want to occasionally use MJ, why would you do a job where one offense results in a suspension long enough to loose your house, and makes you practically unemployable/uninsurable? There's just too many jobs out there that let you do whatever you want without the risk and the lifestyle hardships. Then there's the social stigma. When I was still trucking, I would usually do about $120,000 a year (I have DOT authority, so am more than just a driver). I would have tenants, who were making $12/hr, tell me that they could get me a job so I wouldn't "have" to be a trucker anymore. Riiiight, I'll look right into that...  The social respect for truckers goes something like: Prostitute -> Homeless Panhandler -> Trucker -> everything else. Even my sister, who at the time was living in my parent's basement as an adult, once told me that she "couldn't believe she had a trucker brother." OK then, btw, has Dad given you your allowance yet? Demand not that events should happen as you wish; but wish them to happen as they do happen, and you will go on well. -Epictetus | |||
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| Member |
Like Sigcrazy7 I’m also in the industry. I manage a private fleet for a paperboard converting (box maker) company in Chattanooga, TN. We currently have 7 openings for class A drivers now. Our drivers can make up to $100,000 a year and be home every weekend and we still can’t find qualified drivers. Unlike the larger carriers we don’t micromanage our drivers. They know a week ahead what their schedule is going to be and we try not to send the messages that Sigcrazy7 mentions. Regulations control the driver’s time, how long they can drive, when they start and stop. Often drivers have to end there day while they still have plenty of time left to work just to ensure they can find a place to park for the night. Companies such as mine pay for almost every minute of a driver’s time, often many carriers do not. Stuck in a wreck with the interstate shut down for 5 hours, our driver gets paid, not the case with many companies. Stuck at a shipper or receiver for hours waiting to load or unload, we pay them. Many companies do not. Many of the drivers picking up containers get paid by the load. Spend all day getting one container when you should be able to get 3 - 4 and your pay is now 33% of what you should have made. Lots of reasons for drivers to get out of the job market. Not sure on the actual number that the industry is short but there is a shortage. Unfortunately it’s like a lot of the trades, college has been pushed so much that the trades are suffering. | |||
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I Deal In Lead |
I drive from Gilbert Arizona to Casa Grande Arizona and back once a week, every week. I go on the I10 where there are a ton of big rigs going both ways. Almost every one of them has a sign and telephone number on the back advertising they're hiring and have good pay. | |||
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Member |
I read that 12% of truckers did not come back after COVID. Whether that number is completely accurate, or COVID is 100% of the reason, losing more than 10% of the workforce in an industry creates a problem. I work for a company that ships our product (widgets) all over the US. The warehouse is in Chicago. This warehouse is a contracted entity, so no one there is an employee of my company, they are all employees of a logistics company. My company had lots of orders and lots of inventory to ship to our customers. The problem was that were no short haul drivers to get the product from the warehouse to the trucking terminal, which is only a few miles from the warehouse. So my company flew an employee from California to Chicago. It then took that employee 2 days to find a large box truck available for rental. He then drove to the warehouse, loaded the truck, drove to the trucking terminal, off loaded and repeated the process. It was the only way to get our product into the pipeline. So, yes, there is certainly a trucker shortage. | |||
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| Member |
Here's an example for you. Anybody here want to sign up to be a truck driver? A crack in your rear bumper can now get you a $4,000 fine. Personally, to you. Now, you won't have that much power to prevent this. Your employer says "Go drop your empty trailer, and hook to that loaded one." Your practical choice right there is about zero, but if there's a crack in the rear bumper, you may face a personal $4,000 fine. That's a helluva recruiting message for the industry. This is just one of so many examples. Don't get me wrong, I support the ISO bumpers on trucks, and their annual inspection. What I do object to is the fine that can be assessed personally to the driver, when he has very little control over the condition of the equipment he's instructed to pull. Link
Demand not that events should happen as you wish; but wish them to happen as they do happen, and you will go on well. -Epictetus | |||
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blame canada |
The shortage was fabricated, but is real. For all the reasons sigcrazy has mentioned...and probably more. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "The trouble with our Liberal friends...is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." Ronald Reagan, 1964 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Arguing with some people is like playing chess with a pigeon. It doesn't matter how good I am at chess, the pigeon will just take a shit on the board, strut around knocking over all the pieces and act like it won.. and in some cases it will insult you at the same time." DevlDogs55, 2014  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ www.rikrlandvs.com | |||
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