Big Trucker Shortage Could Hit Your Wallet Soon

Has the economy been mismanaged?

Are regulations a problem?  Think about who drives our country's trucks and the importance of the products they deliver.   PB
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From Fox Business online:

According to the American Trucking Associations (ATA), the industry is about 30,000 short of qualified drivers.

Over the next 10 years, that number is set to rise to 200,000.

The industry, which has an average 115-120% annual turnover rate ... also has an aging problem:

the average age in the for-hire truckload market is about 49, and for less-than-truckload drivers (LTL) and private carriers the average is about 55.

The trucking industry is a vital component to economic growth, with trucks hauling 70% of all freight tonnage moved in the U.S.

And as the economy continues to improve so does demand, which is good news for the industry and the economy, but there isn’t enough capacity to keep up.

In fact, earlier this month, Swift Transportation reported in its quarterly earnings release that the “the overall driver market tightened more than anticipated."

The Great Recession provided a false sense of security with the driver shortage, explains Fielkow, (CEO of Jetco Delivery.) “Demand died down when the economy cooled off so no one was really feeling the shortage. We took our eye off the ball as a country. The slowdown was purely masking an underlying generational trend.”

Experts cite other job alternatives that don’t require being away from home for long stretches, the age requirement (23), cumbersome regulations and the demanding work schedule for fueling the shortage.

“A company can’t get into a high school and recruit young men and women who don’t aspire to go to college,” says Lyndon Finney, editor at The Trucker.

“There is a three-year gap where they can’t recruit and a lot of career decisions get made during that time.”

He says there is movement to get insurance companies to come up with rigorous training standards to get young drivers behind the wheel earlier.

“We let them go into combat and go over and face the enemy on the ground and fly a plane, maybe they are mature enough to drive a truck as well.”
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Link: http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2014/08/22/massive-trucker-shortage-could-hit-your-wallet-soon/