With the economy continuing to reopen, trucking companies continue to complain about a shortage of truck drivers. If trucking companies don’t have the required workforce to haul all the freight, then parts of the economy can falter and potentially slip into recession, especially with required goods such as fuel.
There are two primary ways to solve a labor shortage:
1. Raise wages, offer benefits, and improve the working conditions for truck drivers to entice more drivers to sign on, stay on, and continue driving.
2. Expand the labor pool and create opportunities to hire workers who were not previously eligible, but are willing to work for existing rates.
As we have discussed, many trucking companies are, indeed, raising wages, increasing bonuses, and easing the hard schedule of their over-the-road drivers. These measures have helped alleviate the so-called shortage.
But many trucking companies say it’s not enough. And instead of raising wages further or improving the job, these companies are trying to expand the labor pool in two ways.
The first way that trucking companies are trying to expand the labor pool is to lower the legal age of driving from 21 to 18 for interstate drivers.
The second way is by lobbying to make it easier for companies to hire immigrants on work visas.
Visa Solutions and Immigration
One example of a company with a vested interest in this topic is Visa Solutions. On their website, Visa Solutions describes themselves as the following:
“Visa Solutions is the premier international recruiting and immigration agency connecting qualified workers around the globe with U.S. companies”
Visa Solutions is an immigration agency that helps workers acquire visas, and they often do work for the transportation industry. Their business has more than doubled since the beginning of the pandemic.
Jose Gomez-Urquiza, the CEO of Visa Solutions, called this moment, “[T]he worst driver shortage that we’ve seen in recent history, by far”.
Visa Solutions and trucking companies that want to hire outside labor see a big opportunity in hiring foreign workers from Mexico, Europe, South Africa, and Canada. The latter two countries are especially enticing because the workers are likely to speak English.
Labor Laws and Regulations Stand in Their Way
The problem for Visa Solutions and trucking companies that want to hire outside labor is that there are a number of laws and regulations stopping companies from just hiring foreign workers. Visa limitations, immigration rules, and policies by the Department of Labor are meant to protect American workers.
The power to lobby is strong, however.
According to Bloomberg, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, Meera Joshi from the FMCSA, and other representatives from the trucking industry held a meeting in July to discuss ways that trucking could bypass aspects of the Department of Labor’s immigration certification process.
Major trucking companies have a lot of money to save if they can hire foreign workers rather than increasing pay enough to fill the entire driver deficit. Additionally, American consumers, concerned about price increases being passed down, may also support the ability for trucking companies to hire foreign workers.