Gordon Trucking News, Events and Trucking Blog

Professional Truck Driver Shortage Could Delay Growth in US Economy

  

 Email Article  

Tweet  

  

For years, the mantra in the trucking industry is that it needs to change significantly in order to provide enough trucking capacity to move all the freight.  And while “the end of the world is near” mentality has probably been overblown, we can finally see the seeds of significant change being sewn.

Since deregulation, trucking had been the “shock absorber” in the supply chain.   We have enabled logistics costs to be reduced significantly over the last three decades, which has been a great driver of economic growth and competitiveness for the American economy.  And that’s largely a good thing, when you consider the vast expanse of the United States and immense size of our economy.  However, that shock absorber is worn out and in need of replacement.

For those who haven’t heard, there’s truck driver shortage, and it’s getting worse, especially for good drivers.  In order to solve that, the industry needs to do three things:

1. Attract more new entrants than we’re losing
2. Compensate professional truck drivers better
3. Make the truck driving job more attractive and satisfying

First off, in order to make the job more attractive and satisfying, the industry needs to do a much better job of identifying and communicating those aspects that make it a challenging profession.  Everyone wants a consistent paycheck, predictable home time, and a minimum of unproductive time on the job.  In order to achieve that, we need to work with customers to build more predictable freight flows, coordinate schedules better, and build density through our major hubs.  Large peaks and valleys in volumes, inflexible scheduling practices, and arcane pickup and delivery practices create waste and inefficiency.  Trucking Companies are investing in trailers with a seven-twelve year life, class 8 trucks with a three-six year life, and professional truck drivers who want a lifelong career, so we need commitments from customers that better match the investment that quality trucking companies are making.

When you mention the word compensation in the trucking industry, the nearly reflexive response is “what’s the per mile rate?”, whether it’s from the perspective of a truck driver, carrier, or shipper.  As an industry, we need to start taking better care of the professional truck drivers who take care of us; the safest, most responsible, and efficient drivers should make a premium over the “average” driver who’s just getting the job done.  By having more of those top truck drivers, we can serve the needs of customers more safely, reliably, and at higher service levels.  By consistently demonstrating that performance, we can make the case that the overall cost to serve is more than just the rate per mile, but in derived value from less claims, better “in stock” rates, and less fines from retail customers.

Finally, if we can get better at making the truck driving profession more appealing and tell the story effectively, we can get more people to see trucking for the great occupation it can be.  The industry continues to grow, it has some of the best people anywhere, provides a great atmosphere for teamwork and belonging, and best of all can’t be outsourced abroad!