The On Again Off Again . .
 

. . Driver Shortage Or is it a surplus?

Need a Job? Truck Drivers Wanted. Trucking Industry Sees Shortage - ABC News

"If the jobs go unfilled or if there is a need to raise wages in order to attract workers into those occupations, I think either thing would have a tendency to raise the cost of goods," said Eric Thompson, professor of economics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

If either scenario is going to produce the same result wouldn't it make more sense to pursue the pay raise and insure the job gets done?

Is it any wonder why they made this guy a professor? A mere neophyte, such as myself, would have to read the WHOLE article WITHOUT his quote in order to arrive at his conclusion. He nailed it on the first page! Genius!

Professor . .

FIRST

Take yourself and your five most talented aspiring economists to a sit down with the man from Crete (CCC) and perform the following analysis: Compare the number of hours away from home for Over the Road (OTR) drivers to wages earned to determine real pay per hour. Don't count regional or dedicated fleets unless it's to provide a separate analysis. Don't count just lines 3 and 4 . . a driver away from home is not free to pursue recreation away from the truck, has little to no consortium with family and a driver away from home cannot pursue part time work to supplement his/her income. A driver away from home is either under dispatch or in a state of readiness to accept a dispatch. Then compare the real pay per hour to those in the railroad, airline and merchant marine segments of transportation workers. Then ask yourselves if there is any great mystery behind driver attrition and shortages.

SECOND

Take yourself, your five most talented aspiring economists and the guy from Crete (CCC) out to the cat food plant just west of Crete (town) and figure out what the new price of a can of cat food would be, broken out "farm to market", after a 10 or 15 or 20% (or whatever the number may be to approximate parity with transportation wages) increase over the current Crete (CCC) pay scale. Then come back and tell the world what the real cost will be, in terms of cat food, to fill the jobs and eliminate the driver shortage.

I am not sure that we have had a driver shortage. We have had a lot of driver movement from one carrier to another. That can give the impression of having a driver shortage. We may have a "quality" driver shortage. There have been a lot of drivers whom I have spoken with the last several years. The last year I have seen better qualified drivers applying. When you look at the real world rather than textbook theories, you can sometimes come up with a different scenario.

I agree there is no shortage of qualified drivers. Unfortunately, many of them are not willing to work for the prevailing wage and who can blame them? So, the openings have to be filled by those who will ultimately DAC, crash, ticket, burn out, job hop, won't like it or can't cut it. Oh. This guy, too . .

Linden bridge accident closes road for six hours | mycentraljersey.com | MyCentralJersey.com

"Marki was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated, refusing to submit to a breath test, careless driving and a municipal ordinance of failing to observe the bridge height restriction. He was being held at the city jail last night . . "

So, it's back to the mills for more recruits and won't we all be surprised when the attrition rates remain the same next year.

I don't see how driver wages can go up significantly with current freight rates. In reality, a driver can earn an above average income in this industry with minimal training. I know some feel that they should be compensated for every minute that they are away from home, eating, taking a shower, etc., but the realities of the market dictate pay. I don't think that it is the pay as much as being away from home that takes many away from this business. Starting pay is somewhat low with some carriers, but pay is low with any industry that one enters with little or no experience. There are few career fields that one can enter and earn $30,000+ starting out without a college degree. It is rare that I hear an inexperienced driver say that the reason they are leaving this industry is the pay. It is usually a problem getting home or with their dispatcher.