But aside from the ridiculousness of how journalists told the story, is there actually a “nationwide shortage” of truck drivers? The American Trucking Associations (ATA) lobbying group for the country’s major trucking employers has been making this point since the 1980s, but the shelves somehow stayed full. In a capitalist system in which you can pay people to do basically anything, how is it even possible to have a labor shortage over several decades? There is only one problem: “These messages flying out there are very misleading and inaccurate,” said Karrie Grundy, director of recruiting for the company. For one thing, Sisu Energy does not pay its truckers’ salaries. Your truckers are independent contractors who are paid for by the cargo. To earn anything, drivers must first get their own trucks and acquire the skills and certifications to haul “frac sand,” a valuable sand used by fracking companies to blast oil and gas from the ground. The most productive drivers, according to the company, can bring in up to $ 14,000 a week. But with that money they have to cover all the costs for their truck, fuel, insurance, equipment, repairs, and maintenance. Even if they can haul enough cargoes to make $ 14,000 in the boom-and-bust oil fields of remote West Texas, drivers take a lot less home with them.
In a 2019 study by the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics, economists Stephen V. Burks and Kristen Monaco examined claims by industry leaders that the trucking job market was somehow “broken” enough to cause decades of shortage. Standard economics says if you don’t have enough manpower, raise wages and in a reasonable time, Presto, no more shortages. Is trucking any different? A thorough investigation found that the trucking job market is no different. It’s not broken. Yes, they say the trucking job market is “tight” – which means companies are competing to fill vacancies – but it works just like any other job market. Though older, trucking is one of the greatest professions in America, with more than two million heavy and semi-trailer drivers. According to the ATA, the real shortcoming lies in “long-distance transport”, which refers to truck drivers who have to travel long distances across national borders. The government estimates that there are between 300,000 and 500,000 truckers in America. State governments issue more than 450,000 new commercial driver’s licenses each year, according to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. A large number of them are entering the long-distance transport industry.
“The driver shortage has been a persistent problem in our industry for many years,” says Bob Costello, ATA’s chief economist. “We have numerous examples of fleets of all sizes increasing wages, increasing bonuses, and increasing benefits such as time at home in response to the shortage.” According to Costello, the “shortage” has been exacerbated by the pandemic and new regulations requiring better drug testing of drivers (which is supported by the ATA). And this problem will get worse in the years to come as truckers retire. The average age of the American truck driver is 48 years. “It’s just simple math,” says Spencer. “If more than 400,000 brand new drivers are created every year, how could there be a shortage?”
The big haulage companies want to ensure a steady supply of cheap labor, and the ATA has lobbied the federal government for years to ease regulations in the industry. They are now pushing for the DRIVE-Safe Act in Congress, which would allow 18-year-olds to drive trucks across state lines. At the moment the drivers have to be 21 years old. “There’s no shortage,” says Todd Spencer, president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA). His organization represents more than 150,000 mostly self-employed truck drivers across the country. Their interest in improving the wages and livelihoods of their trucker members has long been at odds with the interests of ATA, which represents the major haulage companies.
“We have millions of people trained to be heavy-duty truck drivers who aren’t currently working as heavy-duty truck drivers because the entry-level jobs are terrible,” said Steve Viscelli, a sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania who studies trucks -Industry. The real problem, says Spencer, is not deficiency, but retention. According to the ATA’s own statistics, the average annual turnover rate for long-distance drivers at large haulage companies has been over 90% for decades. This means that if a company has ten truckers, for example, nine will be gone within a year. or equivalent, three of your driver positions each have to be filled three times in a year because so many new drivers leave within a few months.
Being a truck driver also means making a living from your truck, as motels are quite expensive and often don’t have parking spaces for large rigs. In the meantime, it is a growing problem to find parking spaces everywhere to rest. Truckers sacrifice their health, sit on their bums for hours and eat junk food on the go. And work is dangerous: truck drivers are ten times more likely to be killed on the job than the average worker. The biggest problem is how they pay them. Compared to other worker occupations, the median annual trucking income is actually pretty good: $ 47,130. However, long-haul truckers typically work extremely long hours. often 60-70 hours a week or more. And drivers are usually not paid by the hour. Instead, they are usually only paid for the number of kilometers driven. According to the Ministry of Transport, the average truck driver receives 52.3 cents per mile. Even if the weather or traffic slows them down and extends their working day, they get paid straight away. In addition, they are not compensated for the significant time it takes to load or unload their trucks. And they are not compensated for their “free time” even though they are miles away from home. At a time when outsourcing and automation have undermined opportunities for workers, millions of Americans have been lured into giving driving a try. But, says Viscelli, the business practices of the big haulage companies quickly burn them out.
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