Truck driver shortage—pay now or pay later

   It is human nature, it seems, to ignore a potential problem—hoping it will go away—rather than dealing with it head on.
   This is how most shippers are handling the looming driver shortage across North America. Shippers are already experiencing difficulties securing reliable truck capacity as the economy climbs out of a hole. And when a truck arrives at the dock door, it’s common to see a plus-50-year-old driver at the wheel. 
    These factors should tell shippers something ominous – a trucking crisis is brewing based on a driver shortage. The reasons for the shortage is myriad, including intensified federal regulations and increasingly fewer young people drawn to long-haul trucking careers.
   According to the American Trucking Associations, the industry in July had about 30,000 unfilled truck driver jobs, with a need to add about 100,000 drivers annually over the next decade to stay in line with projected economic growth. Truckload volumes will increase about 3.5 percent a year through 2019, and then by 1.2 percent annually from 2020 to 2025, the association forecasted.
   Trucking companies have been aggressively recruiting individuals finishing their military service, but even this effort has failed to generate large returns. The industry has advertised sign-on bonuses, offers of medical coverage, and advance training to lure newer drivers. Yet the shortage is gaining in the industry’s rearview mirror.
   Think about it. How many young people today are actually clamoring to become long-haul truckers? Not many. A truck driver’s life is a difficult one. Waiting for loads, living out of a truck for weeks at a time, and dealing with weather and road hazards make other comparable paying jobs, such as construction, look more attractive. 
   As one major food shipper recently put it to American Shipper, the trucking industry has “created a self-fulfilling prophecy” of doom and gloom for the nation’s over-the-road transportation. While there may be some to truth to this, shippers would be remiss to sit back and hope the driver shortage simply goes away on its own. 
   Some shippers have taken it upon themselves to become truck driver-friendly by offering air conditioned lounges and other amenities at their distribution centers. While that doesn’t replace higher pay, it goes some way to making the quality of the job a bit better.
   To recruit young, qualified long-haul truck drivers, carriers and shippers will inevitably pay more for over-the-road services. However, the industry could ease the pain by working together—and that includes shippers doing their part by offering input—to find answers to this problem and ensure quality domestic transportation services are accessible in the future.

This editorial was published in the November 2014 issue of American Shipper.