The trucking industry has been navigating a driver labor shortage for more than 15 years. But the trend is worsening, with an anticipated 1.1 million new drivers needed in the next decade, according to the American Trucking Associations.
And with more goods being delivered to customers during the coronavirus pandemic, the need for skilled truck drivers has only been amplified.
“(Drivers) are retiring at a rate that’s higher than people coming into the industry,” said Tom Balzer, president and CEO of Ohio Trucking Association. “The available workforce is taxed. You’ve got this almost perfect storm, where you have increasing demand and not enough people who are interested in getting into truck driving.”
K-Limited Carrier, a Toledo-based liquid bulk carrying company, has a workforce of 140 and needs 20 more truck drivers after losing a spate of employees to early retirement. CEO Dean Kaplan describes the workforce shortage as a battle. He has shifted some of the company’s spending to marketing strategies to attract new employees, resulting in a number of leads, but hiring remains a challenge.
“It’s tough out there,” Kaplan said. “We’re all vying for a very small percentage of people.”
The ATA attributes the decline in available truck drivers to a variety of factors. At the top of that list are demographic concerns. For example, among drivers in private fleets operated by retailers, the median age is 15 years older than that of all U.S. workers. And although women make up 47% of the U.S. workforce, only 6.6% of truck drivers are women.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, it only worsened the industry’s problems. Driving schools closed, cutting off the pipeline of new drivers to fill vacancies. Forty percent fewer drivers were trained in 2020 than in 2019, according to a report released by the Society for Human Resource Management.
“The shortage has been around since before the pandemic,” Balzer said. “Did the pandemic heighten that? Yeah, without question it did, as we became more reliant on drivers to deliver freight during the pandemic. The driver shortage bumped up 20,000 drivers because of that.”
The ATA suggests that companies struggling to fill vacancies make the job more appealing by increasing driver pay, offering more at-home time, recognizing exceptional employees, targeting veterans and generally treating staff better.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Ohio has a mean annual wage of $47,870 for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in 2020, which is lower than the $48,710 mean annual wage nationwide.
“The industry has adapted to the changing needs of their workforce. We’re seeing companies that are shortening their length of haul, increasing pay and introducing bonus structures and minimum weekly pay,” Balzer said. “Every company I talk to, regardless of if they’re a gigantic trucking company or a small one, is struggling right now to find drivers. I don’t know that there’s a silver bullet out there to fix this. It’s just doing the little things right.”
K-Limited Carriers is offering drivers competitive pay above Ohio’s mean annual wage and has committed to having 90% of its drivers home every night, after finding that long haul routes drive up turnover.
“Being a truck driver is a very rewarding job,” Balzer said. “It’s one that most people overlook just because of their perceptions of the industry and their perceptions of what they believe a truck driver is. But I think the pandemic has shown us the essentiality of the industry. It’s extremely vital and one that has opportunities that are available.”
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July 23, 2021 at 06:05PM
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Aging workforce, booming industry create “perfect storm” for truck driver supply and demand crisis - cleveland.com
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