TRUCKERS' SHORTAGE * USA: Need a Job? America has a giant shortage of truck drivers
* New York - Average pay is up 17% in less than two years (Video from Newsy - Oct 12, 2015: The industry is growing, and the workforce is aging. Trucking needs a facelift and about 50,000 new employees) -- The workforce is aging, so the job shortage probably won't get better any time soon... Truck driving salaries may be increasing 8% to 12% annually, but the industry is facing an enormous shortage of drivers... The ATA pegs the average private-fleet trucker’s salary at $73,000 and the BLS puts the industry-wide median at around $40,000. But the study explains that those numbers haven’t been enticing enough to draw qualified applicants... Part of the problem, the report says, is the job’s very accurate reputation for long hours and weeks away from home.Addressing those problems is the ATA’s solution to fixing the labor shortage, listing “increasing driver pay, getting drivers more time at home, as well as improving the image of the driver and their treatment by all companies in the supply chain” as realistic solutions to combat the shortage... Other proposed courses of action include recruiting veterans, attempting to lower the driving age from 21 to 18—there’s significant unemployment among young adults—though regulations and insurance often make it difficult for people with short driving histories to secure jobs... The last solution suggested by the ATA puts a question mark on the 2024 prognostication: Driverless trucks... New York, NY, USA - Time/CNN Money, by Ethan Wolff-Mann - Oct. 12, 2015
* New York - Drivers ride high on trucking boom. Freight haulers fight to meet hiring needs
-- After years of spending long hours behind the wheel without seeing their paychecks grow, U.S. truck drivers now have employers fighting for their services... Many freight haulers have in the past year pushed through their biggest raises in decades. Truck-stop job boards and satellite radio airwaves are saturated with want ads, some offering sign-on bonuses topping $5,000 and free bus tickets to drivers willing to switch employers. Companies are equipping their fleets with satellite televisions and other amenities to make life on the road more comfortable... Average pay for long-haul truckers jumped 17% since the end of 2013 to a record $57,000 this year, according to the National Transportation Institute, a research group. U.S. wages rose by less than 4% over the same period... Trucking companies have always had trouble holding on to staff, with a typical long-haul company replacing nearly all of its drivers over the course of a year. Truck drivers might spend 11 hours a day, nearly every day, behind the wheel, sometimes for weeks on end. They sleep in their truck’s cramped cabin and rely on truck stops for meals and showers—with quality varying widely... Higher costs are driving shippers to reconfigure their supply chains. Higher trucker pay is being passed along to retailers, grocers and other shippers... (Photo by ALYSSA SCHUKAR/THe WSJ: Alex Topolse, who drives a chemical tanker truck, was offered a 50% raise when he moved to another trucking company. Average pay for long-haul truckers has jumped 17% since the end of 2013) -- NY, USA - The WSJ, by ROBBIE WHELAN and BRIAN BASKIN - Oct. 13, 2015
* Arizona - Report: Nationwide trucking shortage affecting the State
-- By the end of the year, there will be a need for nearly 50,000 truck drivers across the country. A new report from the American Truck Association saidif that trend continues, the shortage could expand to 175,000 by 2024...The Arizona Trucking Association is facing challenges bringing new local drivers into the fold. Association president Tony Bradley saidquality of life is one concern for prospective drivers... “They may go out on a run, and may not be home for 18 days”... But Bradley saidanother concern for prospective drivers is that people do not respect truck drivers as they did in the past... When it comes to finding new drivers, the Arizona Trucking Association has worked with the state legislature to make it easier for veterans to enter the industry. Veterans who have driven large trucks in the military can use that experience when they apply for a commercial vehicle license... (Photo from Facebook: A Swift Transportation truck) -- Phoenix, AZ, USA - KTAR News, by MIKE SACKLEY - October 12, 2015
* DC - FMCSA announces $2.3M in grants to help hire veterans
-- The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrationhas announced nearly $2.3 million in grants, double the amount provided in 2014, to 13 technical and community colleges across the country to help train veterans and their families for jobs as commercial truck and bus drivers...Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx saidthe veterans group is one of the fastest growing sectors for finding qualified professional truck drivers...In July 2014, FMCSA announcedthat the Military Skills Test Waiver Program had been expanded to include all 50 states and the District of Columbia... Washington, DC, USA - The Trucker News Services - 13 Oct 2015
* Virginia - US truck driver turnover demand: Rising
-- Truck drivers left jobs at large truckload carriers at a faster pace in the second quarter, but that pace was still slower than in any second quarter since 2011. Meanwhile, smaller truckload operators are doing a better job holding onto drivers as the U.S. economy expands more slowly... The truck driver turnover rate at large truckload carriers rose from 84 percent in the first quarter to 87 percent, the American Trucking Associations said Oct. 13.At the same time, the turnover rate at truckload carriers with less than $30 million in annual revenue dropped to 76 percent... In the same period a year ago, the turnover rate at large carriers was 96 percent, and at small carriers 94 percent, as back to back quarters of strong economic growth tightened available truck capacity. Lower turnover rates likely reflect slower U.S. growth and higher driver pay... Overall, the ATA data show trucking companies are keeping more of their trucks "seated" ... Trucking companies redoubled efforts to hire truck drivers and to keep them last year, expanding payroll by 46,000 jobs in 2014, compared with 24,900 in 2013, and raising driver pay by double digit percentages in some cases... But even those gains haven't erased concerns about what ATA and many trucking companies claim is a growing shortage of qualified drivers... Arlington, VA, USA - J.O.C., by William B. Cassidy - Oct 13, 2015
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