ATA: Driver Scarcity Stays Close to Document Excessive – Drivers
ATA’s new estimates present the trucking trade is brief roughly 78,000 drivers, Bob Costello advised attendees of the affiliation’s Administration Convention and Exhibition.
Photograph: Deborah Lockridge
The truck driver scarcity has eased barely, however stays close to its all-time excessive, in line with American Trucking Associations Chief Economist Bob Costello.
ATA’s new estimates present the trucking trade is brief roughly 78,000 drivers, Costello advised attendees of the affiliation’s Administration Convention and Exhibition in San Diego Oct. 25. “That’s down barely from 2021’s report of greater than 81,000 – however nonetheless extraordinarily excessive traditionally.” These 2021 numbers additionally have been revised upward barely.
ATA calculates the scarcity estimates by figuring out the distinction between the variety of drivers presently out there and the optimum variety of drivers based mostly on freight demand.
“The excellent news is rising pay and different elements have helped the trade appeal to new drivers,” Costello mentioned. “Nonetheless, that inflow remains to be not sufficient to make a substantive distinction within the scarcity – notably within the long-haul, for-hire truckload sector, the a part of the trade most acutely impacted by the scarcity.”
Costello cautioned fleets not to take a look at trucking employment numbers and assume meaning an total enhance in drivers. That quantity displays worker drivers solely, not owner-operator unbiased contractors.
Photograph: Deborah Lockridge
Costello additionally cautioned the viewers not to take a look at trucking employment numbers and assume meaning an total enhance in drivers. That quantity displays worker drivers solely, not owner-operator unbiased contractors. ATA’s driver scarcity numbers embody each.
Costello famous that many drivers determined to strike out on their very own as unbiased owner-operators with their very own authority prior to now couple of years to make the most of report spot charges. Nonetheless, a softening spot market and excessive gasoline costs are driving lots of them to return to driving for a motor provider as a leased owner-operator.
Among the many report’s findings:
- Primarily based on present driver demographic tendencies, in addition to projected progress in freight demand, the scarcity might swell to greater than 160,000 over the subsequent decade.
- To maintain up with demand, the trade should rent almost 1.2 million new drivers over the subsequent decade to exchange these leaving trucking both via retirement or for different causes.
- There are a variety of causes of the scarcity, which implies there is no such thing as a single answer. Nonetheless, the scarcity is having an impression on driver pay, pushing it up considerably.
- The scarcity shouldn’t be distinctive to the US – Germany, Italy, Argentina, Mexico and China have all reported shortages of drivers prior to now 12 months.
“We’ve by no means seen a interval earlier than the place high quality of life was extra vital to the driving force,” Costello mentioned. With pay up, many drivers are selecting to drive much less. “So it reveals it’s not all about pay. However provide and demand labored (driving up pay).” With all of the media publicity concerning the driver scarcity and firms elevating pay, he mentioned, “I feel the pay charges are being seen,” and bringing extra curiosity within the career, “however sarcastically our productiveness charges are in all probability getting dinged just a little bit.”
ATA’s full driver scarcity report will be discovered right here.
