Driver Turnover

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.

The ATA reported this week in its quarterly Trucking Activity Report that the annualized turnover rate for large truckload carriers or fleets with more than $30 million in annual revenue, increased 6% to 94% in the first quarter of 2018. This marks a 20% annual increase.

There has never been a more profitable time to be a truck driver—or a tougher time to be trying to hire one. By most accounts, the industry is about 50,000 qualified drivers short of what demand could handle.

If someone asked you point blank: “what is the biggest issue in freight transportation today?” there is a better than good chance that the truck driver shortage would be at the top of the list. Why wouldn’t it be either? It is a topic of daily discussion at every industry trade show and conference, while also getting a ton of attention in the form of commentary or data being issued fairly frequently. If it has not been for you,...

Driver turnover rates in the third quarter followed the second quarter’s lead, with things heading up again, according to data issued this week by the American Trucking Associations (ATA).

For the past decade and a half, those who predicted the driver shortage have offered their advice on curbing the shortage.

A recent stretch of low motor carrier driver turnover rates appears to have come to an end, according to data issued this week by the American Trucking Associations (ATA).

For the first quarter, ATA reported that the annualized turnover rate for large truckload carriers with more than $30 million in revenue headed up by 3% to 74%, which the ATA said is at a “near-historic” low point and down 15% annually.

While motor carriers continue to work hard to fill driver seats, data issued today by the American Trucking Associations (ATA) is showing that the efforts are showing signs of paying off more so than usual.

We talk and read and hear about how about the projected shortfalls in the difference between the actual number of drivers out there and what is actually needed. And we talk about other things, too, like the aging truck driver workforce, potential drivers not wanting to be away from home for long stretches and, of course, the millennial effect, in which they would rather be doing something “cooler” than driving a truck for a living.

The topic of driver turnover is always prevalent in trucking, and all of freight transportation and logistics to a larger extent, and it is typically viewed with a bit of apprehension, as the supporting data is almost always dire in highlighting the severity of the driver shortage. That is not to say that the driver shortage does not remain a significant issue, it does to be sure. But based on data issued by the American Trucking Associations (ATA), things don�...

The ATA said that the second quarter turnover rate at truckload fleets with more than $30 million in annual revenue dropped six points to 83 percent, which ATA said is its lowest level in five years going back to the second quarter of 2011.

ATA reported that the annualized turnover rate for large truckload carriers, which it defines as truckload fleets with more than $30 million in revenue, headed up 13 percent to 100 percent from the second quarter to the third quarter, representing the highest level it has hit in the last three years.

The ATA said that the annualized turnover rate for large truckload carriers, which it defines as truckload fleets with more than $30 million in revenue, increased 3 percent to an annualized rate of 87 percent in the second quarter.

Even with some declines, data issued this week by the American Trucking Associations (ATA) still makes it clear that the annualized turnover rates for truck drivers still remains high.