The demand for truckers in the United States has been at an all-time high for a while now. The reason is that there is a serious shortage of truckers in the USA.

“We’re living through the worst driver shortage that we’ve seen in recent history, by far,” said Jose Gomez-Urquiza, the chief executive officer of Visa Solutions, an immigration agency with a focus on the transportation industry.

Joyce Brenny, head of Brenny Transportation in Minnesota, increased driver pay 15 percent this year to try to attract more drivers. She says many of her drivers now earn $80,000, yet she still can't find enough people for the job.

Not that many people want this job because they’re searching for jobs that offer better pay, benefits, and working conditions. An ageing workforce, lack of secure truck parking, struggle to attract both youth and women are other reasons why there’s a trucker shortage in the US.

This shortage of drivers is not new, but an increase in freight demand as the US economy reopened after lockdowns, the pandemic have made it worse.

This article will detail the increased demand for truckers in the US. If you are considering trucking as a career, this article will help you understand the trucking industry.

Trucking Statistics in the United States

• The American Trucking Association (ATA) estimates that the US is short 80,000 truckers - an all-time high for the industry. And if nothing changes, the shortfall could reach 160,000 over the next decade.
• The government estimates that there are between 300,000 and 500,000 long-haul truckers in America. And according to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, state governments issue more than 450,000 new commercial driver's licenses every year. As a result, a significant fraction of those drivers enter the long-haul trucking industry.
• Turnover for truck drivers in fleets with more than $30 million of annual revenue was 92% at the end of 2020, meaning roughly 9 out of every ten drivers will no longer be working for that company in a year.
• According to the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the median pay for a truck driver in America is $47,130 per year. But, desperate for new blood, freight operators offer better pay and sign-on bonuses - some as high as $10,000.
• According to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, about 2 million Americans work as licensed truck drivers and states issue more than 450,000 new commercial driver’s licenses every year. It’s the most common job in 29 states.

Why is there a shortage of truckers in USA?

Stressful Working Conditions

Companies have offered higher wages, signing bonuses and increased benefits. So far, their efforts haven’t done enough to attract domestic workers to an industry with gruelling hours, a tricky life-work balance and an entrenched boom-bust cycle.

Long-haul truckers commonly work incredibly long hours, often 60 to 70 hours per week or more. And drivers are typically not paid by the hour. Instead, they are typically paid only for the number of miles they drive.

Driving for hours and sitting in a confined space is stressful mentally and physically. Unfortunately, truckers can suffer from serious health problems due to excessive sitting and driving. These health issues include back and shoulder pain, arthritis, and more.

Being a long-haul trucker also means living out of your truck because motels are expensive and often don't have parking. Meanwhile, finding parking to rest anywhere is a growing problem.

Long-haul truckers are also on the road for weeks to months at a time. Being away from home for that long makes it difficult to maintain a healthy personal life.

Because of the stressful working conditions, many people quit after a few months of entering the job.

Retiring truckers, unable to hire younger people for the job

In the US, the average age is above 45 years old. That means that there will be an expected wave of retirement, causing more vacancies.

Not enough young people want the job because the extended periods of being on the road make it impossible to have a healthy social life. People in their twenties or thirties are looking to start a family or have an active social life. That is why most people who enter the industry are older, have fewer job prospects, and don’t put as much importance on work-life balance.

A shortage of truckers across the U.S. has become so severe that companies are trying to bring in drivers from abroad like seemingly never before.

Bringing in more foreign workers faces several hurdles, including visa limits and complicated immigration rules. Still, trucking advocates see an opening now to overcome some of those obstacles after the Biden Administration created a task force to address the supply chain problems impeding the economic recovery.

The high turnover rate in the trucking industry

While truckers skew older, trucking is one of the largest occupations in America, with more than 2 million truckers in the US. However, as mentioned above, the turnover rate is above 90%, making it even more difficult to fill jobs.

As many would argue, the real problem isn’t the shortage but the retention. The brutal working conditions, low pay, and non-existent work-life balance are reasons that force many people to quit within a year.

Even though the pay has increased within the trucking industry, this has also increased the turnover rate. As a result, people are looking for better options elsewhere - whether it’s another trucking company that offers higher pay or other blue-collar jobs like construction or plumbing that is less demanding.

Of course, it’s not easy for trucking companies to just pay drivers more. If they tell a significant retailer like Walmart that they’re raising the cost to haul a load, Walmart will only find a trucking company that can do it cheaper.

A lot needs to be done to increase retention in the trucking industry, including improving working conditions, increasing pay, changing regulations, and much more.

The Pandemic causes pressure on the supply chain

Massive increases in online ordering during the pandemic have sent demand for truck delivery drivers in the US. That's increased competition for those willing to be long-haul truckers, forcing those trucking companies to hike pay. But that hasn't persuaded enough people to take the long-distance driving jobs that the industry needs to fill.

The consequences have been dire and far-reaching: Filling stations have had gasoline outages. Airports have run short of jet fuel. A stainless-steel maker declared force majeure, and lumber prices hit a record.

Trucking has emerged as one of the most acute bottlenecks in a supply chain that has unravelled amid the pandemic, worsening supply shortages across industries, further fanning inflation and threatening a broader economic recovery.

The trucking shortage is a pivotal piece of the supply chain issue in America - a complex and critical problem that came about after the pandemic. Let’s break down this issue:

• Customers are spending a lot more on online goods due to the pandemic and purchasing more overall.
• Due to lockdowns, factories are closed, so they cannot fulfill orders.
• Companies are running out of inventory faster and are ordering more to make up for the shortage.
• Once borders open up, factories are sending out as much as possible, which means more ships are needed to carry the inventory.
• More ships enter the shipping ports at once and cannot be processed fast enough.
• More trucks are required to pick up the processed goods and deliver them to the businesses.
• Ships cannot pick up the empty containers returned by the trucks because there are ships that still need processing.
• Empty containers are filling up at the shipment ports, and truckers cannot return empty containers because there is nowhere to store them.

This year, drivers are in higher demand thanks to the extreme backlog of containers clogging up shipyards: Ports simply can’t offload containers onto trucks fast enough.

Drivers are forced to wait in lines at ports that weren’t built to handle the volumes of cargo they’re currently seeing. Instead, they waste time searching for overnight parking and wind up ending their driving days early when they happen to find a spot.

These challenges make the job more aggravating and less efficient; the more time drivers spend waiting and looking for parking, the less time they’re able to cover the distance on the highway, deliver goods to customers, and get paid.

So trucking firms are giving drivers splashy pay raises of up to 25%, offering bonuses of up to $1,000 per day for drivers who get stuck waiting in lines at ports, and guaranteeing minimum salaries no matter how much cargo drivers can haul.

Covid has also led some drivers to bring forward their retirement plans. On top of the pandemic early retirements, last year’s lockdowns also made it harder for new drivers to access commercial-trucking schools and get licensed.

The supply chain issue is a complicated problem that is affecting our economy. Everyone is working hard to solve the supply chain issue, and the trucking shortage is a vital part of the equation.

Increased focus on supply chain woes leads to changes in America's trucking industry, but they are not happening fast enough to reverse the current shortage of drivers.

Truckers are in High Demand

The trucking shortage means high demand for truckers in USA, which is likely to continue rising.

The good news is that there is more interest in the industry. Waiting times to join its commercial driver's licence courses have tripled - rising from four to 12 weeks.

New incentives and a change in circumstances due to the pandemic entices people to train as truck drivers who perhaps weren't interested in the industry before.

When New York City shut down at the start of the pandemic, many taxi and ride-hailing drivers were suddenly left with no work.

To help increase the number of available drivers, President Biden's infrastructure bill would let drivers as young as 18 drive a truck across state lines. Biden has also taken critical steps to alleviate bottlenecks at shipping ports, which will relieve congestion for truck drivers.

There are significant steps in improving the trucking industry. If you are considering becoming a truck driver, this is an excellent time to enter.