Shortage of drivers??
 

I think it's a shortage of companies willing to pay a driver for everything he does out there.
Been thinking real hard about driving,but personally I think an experienced driver should get at least $70,000 a year.
The responsibilities are too numerous to be getting paid the average pay of a driver nowadays.

Just my opinion

Re: Shortage of drivers??
 

The reason they DON'T get paid what is deserved is because the industry is too competitive. Too many companies offering the same thing.

Another reason is turnover rate is too high. Regaurdless of reason, if driver A gets pissed about anything at all he knows he can go to another company the next day. Driver B isn't getting what was promised so he goes to another company. Driver C was paid $1,000 to recruit driver A to HIS new company. Driver B heard about driver C getting paid $1,000 to recruit driver so HE goes to this new company. 3 weeks later everyone is unsatisfied and goes to separate companies.

It happens every single day. The industry is too competitive.

Something I always wondered,how much does a company driver actually get perecentage wise out of a load?
These cats (companies) got to be making a killing as many companies are out there today.

Another reason driver pay isn't higher is that there are too many drivers who will abuse their equipment and steal from their company. Someone has to pay for that expense. Drivers expect a lot of added benefits. Those also cost money. The more benefits, the less money for pay. I don't know what the pay is with all companies, as a percentage of revenue, but it should run between 20-30% on average. With benefits, it could run higher. There is more to revenue distribution when it comes to carriers. It costs a lot of money for dispatchers, safety, recruiting and other operational considerations. By the time you consider all the costs, a carrier may not be netting that much after all costs. The two largest costs in running a trucking company are fuel and labor.

Re: Shortage of drivers??
 

Yep. That's exactly why I left OTR. When you balance the pay against the hours worked and time away from home, it just isn't worth it.

I got to talking with a JB Hunt driver a few days ago when I stopped at a Pilot for lunch. His dispatcher told him freight was short and no loads were available. He'd been sitting there since early that morning when he emptied out at a consignee nearby. He said he'd probably be stuck there until the evening when he'd most likely get a whopping 300 mile run so he couldn't collect any layover pay. That's 10 hours of sitting around for no money and then he's got to burn the midnight oil when his body wants to sleep.

You'd have to pay me a heckuva lot more than .42 cpm to put up with that crap. That's why those companies are constantly hiring.

I do not think there is a shortage of drivers. If there was a shortage, pay and benifits would be going up to attract drivers.

Well if companies would pay better or went with a different system I would think this job be more attractive and drivers would stick around,I'm sorry but 30 or 40 gran a year just don't seem enough for all the responsibilities that go along with this job,not to mention it being one of the few jobs that America really depends on without it America would come to a complete standstill.
But like anything else I guess,a man has to make a living.

After being at the TA in Ontario I came to the conclusion part of it is appearance of the drivers. If somebody is a slob chances are he's not gonna offered top dollar.

I know a guy that's on the Forbes 400 list and he used to ask people that showed up to work looking like a slobs "where can a guy that looks like you get a job making $300k a year?" He then would show the guy that over 100 people in his company were making $300k or better and none of them looked like slobs.

Now, that would be a wake up call. :?

300k a year,so they were drivers wearing suit and ties,and neatly groomed??