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TRACKING THE TRENDS
WHAT’S
THE ANSWER?
There’s no single solution to the
complex driver shortage problem
By Cliff Abbott
To some, it’s the most important issue the trucking
industry is dealing with today. To others, it’s a red
herring that represents the industry’s unwillingness
to adapt.
What is it? It’s the truck driver shortage, of course.
An October 25 update from the American Trucking Associations
(ATA) claimed the trucking industry would need a
record high of over 80,000 drivers by the end of 2021. That
number is expected to more than double by the year 2030.
The ATA numbers are calculated by subtracting the
number of drivers currently in the market with an “optimal”
number of drivers that is based on freight demand.
“Because there are a number of factors driving the shortage,
we have to take a number of different approaches,” said
ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “The industry is raising
pay at five times the historic average, but this isn’t just a
pay issue. We have an aging workforce, a workforce that
is overwhelmingly male, and finding ways to address those
issues is key to narrowing the shortage.”
The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI)
listed the driver shortage as the No. 1 concern on its Top
10 Trucking Industry Issues for 2021, as determined by a
survey of more than 2,500 stakeholders.
The shortage was discussed at an August 21 virtual meeting
of the Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness
(ACSCC) in Washington, D.C. The committee voted
to recommend a holistic approach toward attracting, training,
and retaining drivers by reviewing training protocols
as well as actions being considered by other government
agencies. Specifically mentioned were truck parking and attracting
more female drivers to the industry.
Detractors, however, suggest that any perceived
“shortage” of drivers is simply a market response to poor
working conditions and a pay scale that hasn’t kept pace
with inflation.
On August 24, three days after the ACSCC meeting,
Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA)
Executive Vice President Lewie Pugh sent a letter to U.S.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo that described the
driver shortage as a “myth.” Pugh claimed the shortage is a
creation of carriers and trucking trade associations used to
“support the cheapest possible labor.”
Pugh stated that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration (FMCSA) issues more than 400,000 new
commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) annually, providing
enough drivers to solve any shortage several times over.
It might be hard to convince motor carriers that are struggling
to hire enough drivers to keep trucks moving that a
shortage of qualified drivers is a mythical problem. At the
same time, an industry that routinely experiences driver
turnover rates in excess of 90% has to recognize retention
as an issue. That issue was ranked second in ATRI’s 2021
report.
Nagle Companies’ President and CEO and TCA At-Large
Officer Ed Nagle employs several strategies to keep turnover
under 40% annually.
“Our difference is that we don’t take new drivers,” he
said. “We try to make sure they have at least five years of
experience.”
Nagle said paying drivers by salary has made a difference.
The ATRI study proposed an expedited launch of the
DRIVE Safe Act pilot program that would allow 18- to
20-year-old CDL holders to drive interstate routes.
“I think that’s probably one of the most ludicrous rules,”
remarked Nagle. “I can send a guy 250 miles to Portsmouth,
Ohio, or 200 miles to Cincinnati, but I can’t run 25 miles
over the line into Michigan. Even if I bring the load here to
our terminal on the south side of Toledo, I can’t use an 18-
or 19-year-old (driver) to take it the rest of the way because
it’s still an interstate shipment.”
12 TRUCKLOAD AUTHORITY | WWW.TRUCKLOAD.ORG TCA JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022