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Managing the Driver Shortage
Trucks haul 87 percent of the total value of products upon which communities and people depend. Today, however, there there's a shortage of 20,000 truck drivers, prompting the American Trucking Associations (ATA) to launch a nationwide casting call for tractor-trailer drivers to join the 1.3 million professional truckers who ply the nation's highways 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
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THE BABY BOOM GENERATION started to turn 60 last year, and like many market sectors, the truck transportation industry is facing a potential labor shortage. But unlike other businesses, where the aging workforce will only translate into an employee shortfall, a national shortage of professional drivers will bring with it economic implications reaching far beyond trucking's own boundaries.
Currently, the long-haul, heavy-duty truck transportation industry in the United States is experiencing a national shortage of 20,000 truck drivers. An aging workforce, combined with a decline in the primary demographic group that comprises the bulk of the driver pool, has many fleets unable to seat trucks or add capacity at a time when freight volumes are growing. If current demographic trends continue, the shortage of long-haul truck drivers could increase to 111,000 by 2014.
Because trucking is not a self-contained industry, the nation's economy ultimately will feel the pinch of the driver shortage. Indeed, truckers have a special place in the culture of America, and are indispensable to the way the economy and society work.
As an industry that can not be outsourced, trucking is the silent giant that does the heavy lifting to move, at some point in the supply chain, nearly everything consumed in our modern society. Trucks haul 87 percent of the total value of products upon which communities and people depend. The remaining 13 percent is moved by trains, planes, pipelines and along inland waterways.
If the U.S. economy grows the way economists predict, even more goods will move by truck in the future. Trucks hauled 9.8 billion tons of freight in 2004, a figure projected to increase to 13 billion tons in just a few years. It is equally predictable, however, that if the driver shortage continues, the costs of almost all consumer goods will most certainly rise.
The shortage of 20,000 truck drivers is the new reality that has prompted the American Trucking Associations to launch a nationwide casting call for tractor-trailer drivers to join the 1.3 million professional truckers who ply the nation's highways 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
With such a critical driver shortage facing the industry, now, more than ever, trucking is consistently looking toward recruiting and retaining a pool of experienced workers. The recruiting drive is robust and urgent, in part, because economic demand is growing while the number of drivers is not. As a result, ATA is dipping into new resource pools for candidates to fill the gap.
Most notably, the industry is targeting ex-military personnel, Hispanics, women, workers who have lost their jobs because of downsizing or outsourcing, newcomers to the labor force and people over age 50 who may want to trade a desk job for a career on the open road.
As part of those recruitment efforts, ATA has developed a company driver tuition finance program that will partner motor carriers and lending institutions to provide a low-interest line of credit to those who wish to attend a driver training school but otherwise might not be able to afford it. Truck driver training schools annually turn away hundreds of eligible driver candidates due to lack of funding or an inability to obtain loans.
Recently, Senators Conrad Burns (R-MT) and Mark Pryor (D-AR) introduced legislation that, if passed, will add trucking to the list of industry sectors for which servicemen and women moving to the civilian job market can receive expedited financial aid.
Over the next 10 years, 25 million workers will be eligible for retirement, the byproduct of the aging baby boomer generation. As a result, many employers are planning now for how they will retain a competitive advantage as the labor market tightens.
For its part, ATA is participating in the Alliance for an Experienced Workforce, a collaboration between industry associations spearheaded by the American Association of Retired Persons, designed to promote strategies for recruiting and retaining workers over age 50 as well as planning for the demographic challenges that will face the U.S. workforce in coming years. The alliance is expected to serve as a catalyst for bringing government, employers and employees together to help and encourage workers to remain employed beyond the typical retirement age. For example, the alliance will cultivate industry specific best practices for workers aged 50 and above, including for such issues as benefits, workplace design and recruitment strategies.
Business is good, freight tonnage growth is robust and the economy is growing. Professional drivers' pay rates are increasing, benefits are attractive and getting better and training opportunities for apprentices abound.
ATA is reaching out and letting prospective truck drivers know that plenty of jobs are available and that anyone who decides to become a truck driver could not have picked a better time.