Is there really a shortage of truck drivers?

[PandaBear]

It dawned on me that the UK is having the same issue here. Not enough folks in the trucking industry and now they have good shortages.

How serious is the shortage of lorry drivers?

The industry says there's a shortage of 100,000 drivers but why is that and what is the likely impact?

www.bbc.com

Key takeaway: "...Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng told the BBC on 10 October, two weeks after the 5,000 extra visas were announced, that there had only been about 27 applications."

I doubt these are poverty wages in the UK, so it's likely folks not wanting to do this sort of work in the 21st Century.

They did that to themselves with Brexit and then block off all the cheap Bulgarian labors, saving those jobs for .... nevermind.

Oh, instead of the loading dock wait time not getting paid here, they have to clear custom and not get paid, adding 1 day or 2 to cross the border to France.

 

[Lyman]

There is a shortage of workers willing to take these low tier/paying and honestly hard on you jobs. It’s an employee market and employers need to learn to better hold onto their workers or suffer/dwindle.

I have a friend that makes over $100k a year driving someone elses truck. There is money to be made if you do it right. That's not low pay in my book. Most drivers can pull in $60-70k a year.

 

[PandaBear]

Who said college kids were sitting around. I guess when I went to school I had to get a job or I didn't have a place to stay or food to eat. Not everyone can get 100% tuition paid. Not everyone is making 200K outside of Silicon Valley either.

When you went to school it was probably much cheaper because federal and state have more funding, and minimum wage jobs pay better back then vs the tuition.

$20-70k a year tuition + room and board with $15 minimum wage, vs what? $5k a year tuition + room and board with $5 minimum wage? Which one is harder?

 

[tnt_motorsports]

it is a labor shortage period, not just truck drivers, but yes there is a shortage of truck drivers. I wouldn't use store shelves as a signal, I would use the advertisements on the semi's running down the road. Almost every freight company has help wanted ads on their trailers. I have seen a couple trucks recently on my commute (less than 5 miles of interstate) that said $2,500 weekly and a decent sign on bonus. To put that in perspective you are making over $100K a year in a company rig, not as an O/O! Pretty good money in my mind. Now the lifestyle is a different story...

just my $0.02

 

[Dave Hess]

Probably one of the greatest movie made in the history of Hollywood.

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

Of course younger people don't want to become truck drivers. Society has programmed them that type of work is beneath them. It's hard work and long hours. They didn't get their degree in phys ed for nothing!

Besides there's way more money in being an 'influencer'.

 

[PandaBear]

Besides there's way more money in being an 'influencer'.

This is the main point. Plus we are probably 10-20 years away from automating a lot of the driving jobs away, so why would young people enter the field and becomes unemployed when they are middle age or 20 years before retirement?

 

[GON]

When you went to school it was probably much cheaper because federal and state have more funding, and minimum wage jobs pay better back then vs the tuition.

$20-70k a year tuition + room and board with $15 minimum wage, vs what? $5k a year tuition + room and board with $5 minimum wage? Which one is harder?

While I went to College full time, I worked a full time job AND a part time job. Thought that was how it was done. Had no idea parents or student loans were a option........ We did pay for our Daughter's college at a Big 10 school. She still worked to pay her room and board, at a sub shop making sandwiches. Graduated 3.9 GPA double major in 3.5 years. This isn't to brag..... it is just to share that students can work while in college..... and maybe SHOULD work while in college, regardless of the need to.

And today- all one needs is to enlist in the military for two years Active Duty (will have another six year Reserve obligation). The GI bills kicks in and one has college fully paid for, along with a very nice housing entitlement and left over money for food if one picks modest housing. The GI bill (I am not an expert) pays any tuition, regardless of cost at any private or public accredited institution.

 

[PandaBear]

While I went to College full time, I worked a full time job AND a part time job. Thought that was how it was done. Had no idea parents or student loans were a option........

And today- all one needs is to enlist in the military for two years Active Duty (will have another six year Reserve obligation). The GI bills kicks in and one has college fully paid for, along with a very nice housing entitlement and left over money for food if one picks modest housing. The GI bill (I am not an expert) pays any tuition, regardless of cost at any private or public accredited institution.

Yes, there are risk and reward. The reward is you get school and housing paid for, the risk you probably already know what is going on (although today we have withdrawn from Afghan, we won't know for sure we will not deploy them elsewhere or go back).

I'm a believer that if you want to join the military join it, but not for financial reason because the finance will not work out. It is an honor to serve and it is the calling of a lot of people, but finance is not going to work out.

Not sure what your major was but if you go to a good school for a good and demanding major, they will likely have 16 hrs of classes and then another 32-48 hours of homework / study / project time each week, you will not have time to do a part time and a full time job without suffering a poor grade. Typically you will not likely find a good job after graduation if your GPA is below 3.0. If you want the best offer you likely need at least 3.5 GPA.

Still, when school charge you per unit of credit and your housing is fixed at $800 a month, why would you work any unskilled job that pays you $15 an hour instead of taking 4 more units of classes and graduate 3 months early? You can always work those $15 an hour job afterward while looking for your first job, they won't disappear overnight.

 

[Hall]

The lack of cargo is due to the price of shipping a sea can across the pond (China to NA and EU to NA). Pre pandemic it cost $3k to ship a sea can. Currently it is about $30k.

Interesting that you used that $30k number. The Harbor Freight, Den of Tools guy used that number too. I can tell you from personal experience that it is absolutely false. I ship containers from the EU to the US about 6x a year and while the costs have increased, they cost $6000-9000, not $30k. A larger company that's shipping more often is going to have better rates too.

 

[javacontour]

They did that to themselves with Brexit and then block off all the cheap Bulgarian labors, saving those jobs for .... nevermind.

Oh, instead of the loading dock wait time not getting paid here, they have to clear custom and not get paid, adding 1 day or 2 to cross the border to France.

Probably not a good idea to go there.

They probably need to provide some incentives to get locals to work as drivers.

 

[PandaBear]

Probably not a good idea to go there.

They probably need to provide some incentives to get locals to work as drivers.

Agree not going there to get this locked, but that's the common consensus why some labors prefer not to cross the new border. Nobody likes waiting at a custom without pay, and customers don't want to pay more.

As to why locals won't want to work those jobs, well, the same reason why the Americans don't want to. If I finish the training and get a license then suddenly they open the flood gate of cheap foreign labor or driverless truck becomes mainstream, I just did all that training for nothing. Will they pay for the training and a salary while being trained? I doubt it.

 

[Tomioka]

The trucking company I used to work for always had a for hire sign up for decades lol. Seems like they can't convince drivers to drive their constantly broken down trucks.

 

[IndyIan]

I have a friend that makes over $100k a year driving someone elses truck. There is money to be made if you do it right. That's not low pay in my book. Most drivers can pull in $60-70k a year.

I have a buddy making that driving for a mega "farm" dragging around two trailers but he was always around 60-70hrs a week... He had what should've been a minor disagreement with the owners son and then they started bugging him about smoking in his truck so he quit and is taking the summer/fall off to do whatever he wants. His plan is to get a trucking job in the winter, perhaps with the same "farm" as a few of their older drivers won't drive in the winter.

 

[Chris142]

I have a friend that makes over $100k a year driving someone elses truck. There is money to be made if you do it right. That's not low pay in my book. Most drivers can pull in $60-70k a year.

Your friend is very lucky. I quit driving in 2002 due to the low pay vs hours worked. Back then local jobs were paying $.16 cpm with no stand by pay or load unload pay. We crunched numbers and Figured out that I was averaging $3.00 per hour.

 

[wpod]

We are so being fooled. Between 1979 and 1981 I was clearing $1000.00 per week driving out of the Teamos local hauling freight or tanker loads doing 50 to 60 hours per week. Deregulation destroyed the industry, just as it destroyed the airlines.

 

[wag123]

Almost every freight company has help wanted ads on their trailers. I have seen a couple trucks recently on my commute (less than 5 miles of interstate) that said $2,500 weekly and a decent sign on bonus.

I call this false advertising. I don't personally know any truck drivers that are making that kind of money.

 

[Hall]

I call this false advertising. I don't personally know any truck drivers that are making that kind of money.

I've seen trucks with that same claim (and $ amount) on the interstate. That's over $60/hour for a 40-hour work week if they're working hourly but I suspect that over-the-road drivers aren't paid that way, but are paid by the mile.

 

[mightymousetech]

Interesting that you used that $30k number. The Harbor Freight, Den of Tools guy used that number too. I can tell you from personal experience that it is absolutely false. I ship containers from the EU to the US about 6x a year and while the costs have increased, they cost $6000-9000, not $30k. A larger company that's shipping more often is going to have better rates too.

Interesting. I know the owners of several companies shipping products from China, and they both have products sitting in port right now waiting for the price to come down. They are the ones who told me about the $30k price. That is China to Canada.

 

[PandaBear]

I've seen trucks with that same claim (and $ amount) on the interstate. That's over $60/hour for a 40-hour work week if they're working hourly but I suspect that over-the-road drivers aren't paid that way, but are paid by the mile.

Basically the only way to get around minimum wage is to pay by gig or be a "business owner". There is no regulation on business owner being paid at least minimum wage at all time and there is no regulation on how many gigs minimum per hour.

I can understand people driving UBER might put up with that due to flexibility but long distance trucking is not something flexible, and require CDL / other training, so why would people put up with those.