Driver Retention

Pay for American truckers rose significantly in 2021 as demand for drivers amid the ongoing driver shortage increased competition for talent. That’s according to the results of a new industry survey commissioned by the American Trucking Associations (ATA). ATA estimated there is a shortage of 80,000 drivers among the 3 million holders of a Commercial Driver’s License.

Yellow Corp., which controls 10% of the nation’s less-than-truckload (LTL) capacity as one of longest-operating trucking companies in America, is addressing the nation’s shortage of truck drivers head on and in house. Yellow is adding two new driving academies to its stable of 14 schools to prepare the next generation of professional truck drivers for careers in transportation.

A provision in the new $1.2 trillion infrastructure law contains an apprentice program that would allow 3,000 or so under-21 truck drivers to be employed in interstate commerce. But trucking officials and executives say that is hardly enough to make a dent in the nationwide truck driver shortage. American Trucking Associations (ATA) estimated recently that the nation is 80,000 short of full employment in truck drivers—a shortage ATA predicts could hit 150,000 if conditions don’t change by 2030.

While the subject of a truck driver shortage ostensibly never runs out of roadway, data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) highlighted what a “tumultuous year for trucking” 2020 was. That was a key theme of a recent blog posted written by Jeff Tucker, president of Haddonfield, N.J.-based Tucker Worldwide, the nation’s oldest freight brokerage.

Entitled, “Drivers Wanted: Using data to understand the commercial truck driver shortage,” the study observed that while the American Trucking Associations (ATA), for example, has stated that there has been a driver shortage for the last 15 years, whereas the Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported there are high rates of occupational attachment among truck drivers that haul freight, which, in turn, suggests that over time the labor market would respond to price signals in a roughly normal and predictable way.

In a controversial move that almost certainly will rile up anti-truck safety advocates, the federal government is moving ahead with a three-year pilot program that will allow some under-21 drivers to work in interstate commerce.

Annualized turnover rate for large and small truckload carriers was up in the third quarter.

While it is true that 2018 marked what could be described as a boom year for the freight economy, a new report issued this week by the American Trucking Associations (ATA) revealed that the trucking sector needed 60,800 more for-hire over-the-road truckload drivers at the end of the year to meet the nation’s freight services demands.

The first quarter turnover rate for large fleets with more than $30 million in revenue increased 5% to 83%, which was lower than the 2018 average rate of 89% and down 11% compared to the first quarter of 2018. For small fleets, the ATA said the turnover rate fell 4% to 73%, from the first quarter to the second quarter.

Company officials said that this new program leverages what it called best-in-class learning and development techniques, with a technology-driven approach and a modern simulator, rather than lecture-style classes, a former teaching approach.

The nation’s largest retailer is increasing pay for truck drivers with three years’ accident-free experience to around $87,500.

While driver turnover and the ongoing driver shortage tend to go hand in hand and, more often than not, with a typically negative connotation, data issued by the American Trucking Associations (ATA) is on the positive side.

A pilot program that would allow teenagers to drive an 80,000-pound truck in interstate commerce is one of the worst ideas to solve the driver shortage, a top trucking executive with six decades experience in the industry says.

Is allowing 18-to-20 year-olds to drive an 80,000-pound truck in interstate commerce the solution to the driver shortage? The Trump administration thinks so. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao, joined Sen. Deb Fischer, R- Neb., and Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., to announce that the Department of Transportation will launch a pilot program to permit 18-to-20 year-olds who possess the U.S. military equivalent of a commercial driver’s license (CDL) to operate large trucks in interstate commerce.

Logistics Management Group News Editor Jeff Berman recently had an opportunity to talk to Derek Leathers, president and chief executive officer of Werner Enterprises, about market conditions, the ongoing driver shortage, and pricing, among other topics.