Where have all the truck drivers gone?

[Jilly_in_VA]

The thing Mickey Weaver hears most from prospective truck drivers is that they want to be home every night. The second thing they want is money, but, he says, it’s funny — a lot of people are willing to sacrifice the money to be home daily. But that’s also a big ask. “I can get you money, any way you want it,” Weaver said. “If money’s all you care about and you don’t care where you’re driving or when you’re going out, I got 40 ways from Sunday to hook you up on that.”

Weaver, who’s based in Arkansas, runs We Hire Truckers and Truck Jobs 4 U, which, if you couldn’t guess from the names, recruit truck drivers to open positions. He started this work a little before the pandemic; in March 2020, hiring slowed down a bit, but last fall it began to skyrocket again. Now, there is no shortage of open jobs. “I’ve got more jobs than I’ve got drivers,” he said.

The United States is experiencing a shortage of more than 80,000 truck drivers, according to an estimate from the American Trucking Associations. The ATA also estimates that about 72 percent of America’s freight transport moves by trucks, which shows just how dependent consumers are on the drivers who deliver turkeys to stores or gas to pumps or the Christmas presents to you order to your doorsteps.

This is not just an American problem. Trucks haul comparable amounts of freight in places like the European Union and China, and countries and regions around the world are experiencing driver shortages. The International Road Transport Union documented shortages in a survey of 800 transport companies in more than 20 countries; according to the survey, about 20 percent of positions went unfilled in Eurasia last year.

This is also not a new problem. Analysts and industry groups have warned of truck driver shortages for years, around the globe. But supply chain disruptions during the pandemic and surges in demand in places like the US have made this slow-rolling crisis much more acute.

https://www.vox.com/22841783/truck-drivers-shortage-supply-chain-pandemic

[Duncanpup]

1. I love it been a union driver 34 years

The country is experiencing why people do not wanna work 14-16 hours a day this industry has been a slave plantation on non union side for years. Reagan brought deregulation in force he destroyed the union companies oh well. companies have abused drivers for long time they caused this shortage.

[JanMichael]

3. Nailed it. Plenty of people are willing to drive trucks.

They just don't want to be abused constantly.

But I would also say there are plenty of immigrants/migrants that would be willing to do it too.

That's what's f****** up the UK right now. After brexit all that free border crossing ability for workers came to a crashing end across the channel

[jimfields33]

4. I find it so strange that Reagan was able to change so much

But the next 40 has resulted in every administration keeping reagans changes in place. Why has that not been asked?

[MyOwnPeace]

5. Because the following administrations were.....

RepubliQans working with courts already in line with RayGun policies (Bush 1, Bush 2, IQ45)

OR:

Democrats did not have strong-enough majorities to 'power' their way through to get things done - either "Blue-Dog" Democrats or slim majorities with stupid, powerful people thinking of nobody but themselves and their wallets (Yeah, I'm talking to YOU, Joe Munchkin! )

[chowder66]

11. +1

[stopdiggin]

6. if that question is directed at

the deterioration of union power - I think the answer there is that the American people themselves are (and have been) ambivalent at best about unions. And their representatives are aware of, and reflect those, sentiments. That might be reversing course somewhat today - but for a long time ..? Nope.

(and, as illustration, look at some of the places that have swung hardest red over the same period of time. strongly suggesting this is not an accident - but a solid shift in philosophy and agenda.)

[Diablo del sol]

7. What is the normal pay on the non union jobs

Saw a post prior to Christmas that truckers made about 100k in the mid '80s and the number has dropped to 40k now. Is that accurate?

Minimum wage would get a person to 30k, and that would be a 40 hour work week. If truckers are getting 40k for 55 to 65 hour weeks that is crazy. Add the stress of being away from home, extra costs of eating out, etc.

[VarryOn]

10. A random, over-the-road driver at my non-union company...

Would average around $60,000. But, there are many drivers in the $80's. It really depends on how much you want to stay on the road. Some guys just don't want to go home much. Every year, we have drivers making over $100k, but they are hardly going home. And before thinking they're running illegal, we have tools to ensure drivers are running legal. All kinds of bells and whistles go off if a driver tries to run over hours.

The hourly intermodal dray drivers average in the upper $50's. Because these jobs allow drivers to get home every night, they are filled by many senior drivers who left over-the-road. And many of them are at the top of the payscale. It's common to see them making $70k-$80k.

[rgbecker]

2. A lot to consider before setting out on the road.

Seems pay is often related to miles driven rather than time in the cab. People wanna be home cause sleeping in the back of a roaring tractor, with no pay is not what you need to do for most jobs in America. As people start waking up to what is really going on with the working class of America, you are going to see some changes..guaranteed.

[link:https://www.truckdriverssalary.com/how-much-does-a-truck-driver-make-per-mile/|

[cadoman]

8. exactly -- many employers have you "clocked out" hundreds of miles away from home

Sorry, but that's not "clocked out" in my book; it's overtime. It shouldn't be paid at full rate, but it's not time that I can fully control and the cost of the time should be reflected as such.

Maybe it's time to start recognizing that.

[VarryOn]

9. I've worked in trucking and intermodal for just over 30 years...

My first day, I learned there weren't enough drivers, and there's not been one day since when there were. It's a tough job, and few are encouraging their kids to grow up to be truck drivers. Thus, the average driver is in their mid-50s.

Thankfully, the variety of driving jobs has increased, so the need for a driver to stay on-the-road for weeks on end is much less. The explosive growth of intermodal help madethat possible. You still need drivers for intermodal, but the long-haul portion of the load is done by a train. One intermodal train can haul 225+ 53' containers, and the short trucking segments on the pick-up and delivery ends (called "drays&quot are performed by "local" drivers who are paid by the hour and who are home every night.

No doubt there are drivers who are treated poorly. A company is foolish (apart from immoral) for doing so. Piss a driver off and cause him or herto quit, and they can have a job very quickly.

When I was in the field and around drivers daily, their biggest complaints centered on shippers and recivers. There are many customers who treat our drivers like s--- at times. (I'm looking at you grocery DCs!) My company allows our drivers to review customers so Sales can address poor driver treatment.

I would advise anyone looking to drive a truck to look to the large, publicly traded companies (e.g. Schneider, YRC, Swift, Hunt, ABF, etc.). While I'm sure there are drivers could tell of bad experiences at one, these companies can't get away being unsafe, abusing drivers, and paying at the bottom. Plus, they'll have the most variety with jobs.

And yes, there are very fine small privately owned companies.

[NowISeetheLight]

13. In the 90s

When I drove OTR for a big company out of Omaha I experienced a lot of this mistreatment. Sitting 10 hours at a dock waiting for some hourly clerk to get me unloaded. Dealing with lumpers (people who unload the trailer at grocery DC). Spending two days in LA one week and having four shag loads (a load under 100 miles - paid $20). There was a lot of unpaid "work" in the job and that's on top of the 70 hours a week of "work" we could log.

I ended up going into the office as a Fleet Coordinator then a Fleet Manager for Werner. A couple years later I moved to AZ and got a job as a load planner for another big company. I worked Fri-Mon 6a-6p and would book myself round trip runs to Reno from Phx for Tues-Thurs. I enjoyed the driving.

Today the job is so different. Enforcement has gotten more aggressive and the rules are much more restrictive. I finally gave up my CDL because of the sleep apnea issue. Now they won't let you drive if you're on certain anti-depressants too. I realize they want safe truckers out there but I have to believe it's over-regulated. I still stop at truckstops when I travel and I try to pick up The Trucker to keep tabs on the industry. The hours of service rules are worse, the headaches are bigger, it's not "fun" imo.

[Metaphorical]

12. Another factor is the shift from retail to delivery

I suspect that with the pandemic and the rise of Amazon and similar online retailers, the demand for short-haul and delivery truckers has also escalated dramatically, and may very well be pulling potential candidates who might otherwise work long-haul into positions that stay closer to home.

[Silent3]

14. They've gone to Roady's, every one 🎵

This is sung to the tune "Where Have All the Flowers Gone", right?