Today’s talk comes from an article in Time magazine about the United States’ so-called “supply chain problem” that is often explained in part as there’s just “not enough truckers.”
But, Time magazine says the real problem is “trucking jobs.”
Not enough truckers? “In California alone, there are over 640,000 active Class A and Class B commercial licenses, but only about 140,000 truck transportation jobs.”
The article continues by saying: there is a “trucker retention problem” which sprang up in the ’80s following the trucking industry’s deregulation.
“Turnover in large fleets was 92% at the end of 2020.
Deregulation changed trucking – from a system where there were a few companies controlling certain routes for certain rates to a system where just about anybody with proper authority can move anything anywhere for whatever the market will pay.
The results? Rates and wages fell with today’s driver making about 40% less than he did in the 1970s according to Time. One driver said he waited 27 hours to pick up a load, In a business where you are paid by the mile lots of income is lost just waiting
The article was an eye-opener for me and made me wonder how our local truckers are affected? What about the drivers of cattle trucks coming in and out of Emporia? Hostess has a fleet and there are many other truck drivers. What do you suppose their stories are?
Recently, I was told about a fellow saying his company needed truck drivers and they were offering jobs to an untrained driver with a $3,000 signing bonus with an additional $15,000 bonus if the driver was still with his company after a full year! And, he suggested the average salary for his drivers was over $80,000 a year.
You know, I don’t know a lot about commercial trucking And the supply chain problem, but I think you will agree this topic is Something to Think About, especially if that gift you ordered doesn’t arrive by Christmas!
I’m Steve Sauder
