The Driver Shortage
- Thread starter OntarioVanMan
- Start date
purgoose10
Veteran Expediter
In SC you can get a CDL and drive in state at 18 yrs of age. The problem is company's not only won't hire them but find 1 out of 100 that has the sense or the capacity to work. Most at 18 are high on something other than life and could care less. Of course non of that can be blamed on parents, after all we don't want to hurt our babies feelings and make it better than we had it.
purgoose10
Veteran Expediter
It's plain as day. You treat drivers right and pay them right that's less of a problem. Probably the best example of that on this site is Load 1. John's business plan is one of the best in my opinion and I try to run my 4 trucks like he runs his company. And no I'm not leased or part of Load 1. He has a waiting list for truck slots, and the complaint list is shorter than most. One thing about trucking, the complaints never stop.
That is the thing..in the olden days heck we was ramming gears when we could reach the clutch...now a days insurance won't let someone drive alone till at least 23....a kid graduates at what?....17?....so they go out and find a non driving job for 5 years....there is a gap that has been created that was not there before...
mohawk
Active Expediter
At 18 i was in school for welding as were most of my friends for one trade or another. I take offense to the generalization that just because im younger somehow implies im inferior.
I have been on the Transportation side and the manufacturing side and one constant I always see….we ask carriers to lower rates every year, fuel and maintenance for the carrier always seem to be on the rise and regulatory complexities add to the carriers issues. The flow seems to travel downhill and IMO the OTR FTL drivers don’t get paid a fair wage. To compound the issue the carriers don’t help themselves by not dealing with the issues. When I was at Werner we had an entire floor devoted to recruiting, the drivers came in and ran with a “trainer” for 2 months making next to nothing and when they get their own truck they brought home $3-400 dollars, when you realize you can work at Wal Mart and be home every night it’s not hard to see why the turnover is so high. There is a shortage and I don’t see anything changing it anytime soon
You are 100% correct, the failure creates the shortage....good point. I dont see it changing in the near future, especialy when carriers like Werner are debt free and have excellent operating margins.
You are correct, I doubt that it will change either. My guess is that the carriers who do this know very well what they are doing and profit from it more than most understand. But, my point still stands. There is no driver shortage...at this time. There is however a shortage of carriers worth driving for.
When I went through driving school, there was about 40 students. All but myself and 1 or 2 others were "sponsored" by a carrier. Most didn't even know what carrier would be sponsoring them until the first day of class when "the contracts" were handed out. They all signed up, barely even read them. What they were signing was a $5,000 loan to be repaid by them to the carrier. The only way not to repay the loan was to drive for that carrier (at a reduced pay rate) for 18 months. After a couple of days of socializing and getting to know everyone and the truth about what they were getting into dawned on them, some of them wanted out. They asked the instructor what they needed to do to drop out. His reply was "read your contract, you signed it! You can leave anytime you want. That $5,000 loan will follow you home".
I took the same classes, drove the same trucks, got the same license for $1,350 cash...paid by me. You tell me, who was making money off those other people? I honestly don't think they want those drivers to stay in the truck. They want them to basicly be a cheap second logbook for the trainer. They want to get as many cheap miles out of them as possible before they leave. They want them to leave before they get their own truck and start expecting more money. Why? So they can send them home with that $5,000 bill and get another one in the seat to do the same thing over again.
Those adds in the newspaper are not there because there is a driver shortage. They are there because there is a profit in turnover. That's my opinion.
Obviously, some companies need good drivers and value them once they get them. But those are not the companies crying about driver shortages.
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An O.T.R. driver should make atleast $125.00 a day for every day he is away from home. He should make enough to be able to buy 3 good meals A day everyday and not have to cook a oodles of noodles in his truck microwave because thats all he can afford. The truck itself should make atleast $1.50 a mile to cover all operating costs maint, repairs, fuel, tolls, and what other charges the carrier doesn't want to pay for so they make you pay for it.
Lets see...projected almost 100,000 retiring in the next 2 years and approx 25,000 entering the market.... to me and my math....does that come up short?....age.?
I hope your right. But, I used to hear the same thing about tool and die jobs also. All the old toolmakers were gonna be retiring...the demand would be HUGE.... still waiting on that one too.
There are plenty of people who want to drive trucks. The shortage is finding people that will put up with the bs that the carriers put them through. The carriers who treat their drivers well have waiting lists...and I suspect they always will have. The others have recruiters, lots of 'em....and I suspect they always will.
There are plenty of people who want to drive trucks. The shortage is finding people that will put up with the bs that the carriers put them through. The carriers who treat their drivers well have waiting lists...and I suspect they always will have. The others have recruiters, lots of 'em....and I suspect they always will.
AMonger
Veteran Expediter
Sorry. 18-year-olds are--generally--not mature enough to be entrusted with a tractor-trailer. If you were the exception, then good for you.
I started in 96, got out of the industry for a couple years, then went back. My new carrier insisted I go through a refresher course, the propose of which was to use me as a second logbook for the trainer. So I had to go to their in-house community college program for a couple weeks, half the time of the students with no experience. The students who were there for the full program were all all of legal age, of course, and I was with them day-in and day-out for that time, and then with another group of them during orientation. Another experienced driver asked me if he should be afraid at what was coming out on the road, and I told him "BE VERY AFRAID!"
Ninety percent of them were children in young adults' bodies. I could hardly stand to be around them, and these weren't 18-year-olds.
Inferior because you're 18? Maybe any given 18-y/o is a natural and fantastic driver, but, as a group, they're just not mature enough.
For a good laugh or insult if you need work call some of these brokers and hear what they expect an OTR next day skid to move for. I will B.S. you not, Monday I had one broker call for a run pick in Buffalo NY to JFK, 1 4x8 skid, 5,000lbs, high value, hot $75.00 to the truck. I said you gotta be kidding me and told them loose my number. There is not a driver shortage, there is not a shotrage of farm laborers, there is not a shortage of entry level factory personell. The only shortage is people willing to work for a loss or at best an allowance. Younger people are good at using a calculator and contrary to popular belief can do basic math. If at the end of the week they make $100.00 and it costs $300.00 to live, and working a grocery store or burger joint pays $ 400.00 and much less B.S. thats why we have a shortage.
purgoose10
Veteran Expediter
Oh Gee I'm sorry, but you are in the minority, just look around.
there is no shortage of people.....well duh.....what there is is a shortage of young people that want to do this job....why would any young person want to drive for a living?....
IF carriers paid more yes maybe.....better working hours yes maybe....face it...there are a lot of people working just to cover the bills and nothing more...I mean just look at the other threads some of you are whining cause you might not be able to work more then 70 hours in 1 week....
I repeat...if you need more then 70 hours you are with the wrong carrier
IF carriers paid more yes maybe.....better working hours yes maybe....face it...there are a lot of people working just to cover the bills and nothing more...I mean just look at the other threads some of you are whining cause you might not be able to work more then 70 hours in 1 week....
I repeat...if you need more then 70 hours you are with the wrong carrier