The Trucking Industry Continues to Face an Ongoing Shortage of Drivers
Today, nearly every industry is feeling the impact of the labor shortage—and the trucking industry is no exception. While all sectors of the industry have struggled with hiring qualified drivers, the American Trucking Association (ATA) notes that the long-haul / nonlocal for-hire market is particularly strained.
In 2022, trucking companies nationwide suffered a deficit of 80,000 drivers, according to data from the ATA. If this trend continues, the ATA estimates the transportation industry will need to hire an average of 110,000 drivers each year until 2028 to make up for the shortfall. This figure is the difference, based on freight demand, between the number of drivers currently on the road and the optimal number of drivers.
While there is no single cause for the industry’s ongoing labor struggles, the ATA is attributing a handful of key factors to the issue—including a lack of driver training, more drivers retiring, the age-21 driver requirement, the general trucking lifestyle, and stricter regulations.
Lack of adequate driver training
A career in trucking requires more than being able to travel long distances; it also includes knowing how to safely navigate infrastructure and weather-related challenges as well as being able to understand and troubleshoot the innerworkings of various mechanical and electronic components. In addition, there are tasks of the job that happen off the road (such as loading/unloading and dealing with customers) that drivers must know how to manage.
The industry is attributing the lion’s share of today’s driver shortage to a lack of proper training, citing that new drivers simply aren’t getting the education they need to succeed at their job.
Retirement and current age requirement
Of the 110,000 new drivers that the ATA estimates must be hired by the year 2028 to keep up with demand, 54% of those new hires will be simply replacing drivers who have since retired. This issue is likely to worsen, as the average age for a trucker on the road today is 46.
Then there is the current age requirement. Right now, a driver must be 21 or older to drive a tractor-trailer across state lines. Simply put, this requirement has eliminated a large portion of the working population between the ages of 18 and 21—a time when most younger individuals are making life and occupational decisions and getting the training they need to embark on a new career. According to the ATA, the average age of a new driver being trained today is 35.
The trucking lifestyle and strict regulations
As for a lifestyle, truck driving isn’t an occupation for everyone. Drivers are often on the road and away from their families for extended periods of time. For many, this type of career just isn’t a good fit. The ATA notes that this is yet another reason to consider hiring drivers who are under the age of 21, as younger individuals typically wouldn’t mind being on the road for weeks at a time, having not yet started a family.
Meanwhile, new regulations over the past several months have put a greater strain on drivers—including the change to the hours-of-service regs that are pushing drivers to work fewer hours while maintaining the same amount of productivity. The ATA describes this issue as “exacerbating the driver shortage[,] as it requires more trucks, and more drivers, to move the same amount of freight.”
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