The American Trucking Association sounded an alarm in October concerning the nation’s “historic high” truck driver shortage, estimating that an additional 80,000 drivers were needed to meet freight demands.
At the same time, the ATA warned driver shortages could double to 160,000 by 2030, a date when having autonomous trucks on the roads might be closer to reality.
In mid-November, as a highlight of his 2020 $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, President Joe Biden signed into law the controversial Drive Safe Act, which addresses the driver shortage by allowing 18- to 20-year-olds who already hold an intrastate commercial driver’s license to join the more lucrative interstate side of the trucking industry.
Not comfortable with 18-year-olds being allowed to drive tractor-trailers? Well, they already are.
In Tennessee and almost every other state, truck drivers younger than 21 are restricted to driving within that state’s borders. In January, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced its Safe Driver Apprentice Pilot Program, which means companies can hire more younger drivers and see that they get the necessary training for interstate driving.
“The Drive Safe Act is not a path to allow every young person to drive across state lines, yet it envisions creating a safety-centered process for identifying, training and empowering the safest, most responsible 18- to 20-year-olds to more fully participate in our industry,” says Donna England, president and CEO of the Nashville-based Tennessee Trucking Association.
“With that (apprenticeship), they have to go through safety-centered processes for identifying, training and empowering these folks to participate. There’s going to be safety features on the equipment that they drive, as well as an experienced driver in the truck with them.”
Scott George, CEO of Nashville-based TCW, Inc., says the Drive Safe Act will address the national shortage of over-the-road drivers and some of the odd quirks of intrastate limitations.
“The trucking industry, like most others, is experiencing a challenge with labor,” George acknowledges. “Today, a driver (younger than 21) can legally move a load from Memphis to Bristol, Tennessee, but cannot move a load from Bristol, Tennessee, to Bristol, Virginia, which makes no sense.
“The Drive Safe Act requires a vigorous training program for these under-21 drivers that ensures the safety of the motoring public will not be adversely affected. It also allows a career path to our industry for those graduating from high school that does not exist today since most commerce is interstate, not intrastate.”
Here’s a deeper look at the Drive Safe Act and other issues facing the trucking industry.
Is there really a shortage?
Not everyone agrees there is a driver shortage, and some who believe there is one say it’s not for the reasons most people think.
One trucking official says the shortage refers to long-haul drivers who crisscross the country for days or weeks at a time. But it’s a different scenario for local drivers, commonly known as LTL (less than load), who make runs by the truckload around the city, county or state. They make daily deliveries and get to sleep in their own beds every night.
While there are shortages in that segment of the industry, they may not be as severe.
“The Drive Safe Act has nothing to do with safety whatsoever,” says David Owen, president and co-founder of the Nashville-based National Association of Small Trucking Companies. “It’s interesting when I get asked this question, you can’t talk about what’s in the Drive Safe Act without talking about driver turnover in our industry, particularly in our niche of the industry, which is full-truckload, long-haul.
“The driver turnover rate in large companies who are under pressure to grow and make more money for the stockholders is tremendous,” Owen adds.
“There’s only one way to increase your revenue in trucking, and that’s to run more paid miles. And in order to run more paid miles, you’ve got to have more drivers and more trucks.
“So there’s a tremendous amount of pressure in big corporate America, in big trucking companies, to grow their number of trucks and grow their number of paid miles. And that’s one reason why that turnover rate is so high.”
Owen is among those who call the shortage “a big trucking company issue” and explains insurers will keep many younger drivers off the road.
“In trucking, if you’ve got less than 100 trucks, 50 trucks, the insurance company that’s covering you to run those trucks isn’t going to let you hire a guy that’s 18-years-old,” Owen says. “They restrict our guys … you’ve got to be 22-, 23- 24-years-old before they’ll ever approve that driver. So, it didn’t make any difference what the federal government decides is a good age for people to start driving commercial vehicles.”
Owen says companies “need to consult with the insurance underwriters because they’re the ones that don’t think it’s safe. And I have to say that I think they’re off-base sometimes, but I’m all for lowering the age to 18 and letting the big trucking companies take the risk and the liability of putting 18-year-olds on the road.
“The insurance people don’t agree with that as being a good idea. However, they’re not gonna let us do it. But all it will mean is these guys will get a shot at a younger person to either make a part of our industry or run them off.”
Kellylynn McLaughlin, an Oklahoma-based over-the-road operator and driver ambassador for the Women In Trucking Association, cites pay, an aging workforce about to retire and the pandemic for the perception of not enough drivers.
“That word ‘shortage’ is very controversial. And the reason is because there are millions of people that hold a CDL since they’re not working as drivers,” says McLauhlin, who drives for Schneider National. “So there are, at any given time, about 80,000 job openings in driver seat openings in the United States. But those seats are not getting filled because of a variety of reasons. And one is pay and working conditions.
“You can go and work at McDonald’s for $17 an hour; why would you want to go over the road for 70 hours a week and be away from your family for less money. It’s rough.”
Ingrid Brown, a driver from Mountain City near Bristol, says there is no driver shortage, rather the problem is drivers getting stuck at loading docks for hours at a time instead of driving.
“There’s 417,000 CDL holders in the country. That’s active CDL holders. The problem is there is not a shortage of drivers. It’s a shortage of utilization of drivers,” says Brown, who has owned her own company for 42 years. “We sit at a dock for 6 to 10 to 12 hours. Those are hours that you need a driver moving to move freight, to move goods.
“But the driver’s not being utilized so you literally can’t count him as a driver while he’s sitting. And you can’t expect any productivity while he’s sitting. And you sit.”
Ellen Voie, president and CEO of Women In Trucking, agrees that truckers aren’t to blame for supply chain issues, that the problems begin much earlier.
“It’s not the trucking industry that is causing the backup. The backup starts at the ports. It’s products coming in from other countries.
Voie also points out that fewer U.S. manufacturing jobs means those products are made overseas and shipped here.
“It used to be you could go in a store and buy a washer, a dryer or a stove. And now? They’re on back order,” she continues.
“People tell me all the time they can’t get carpeting; they can’t get appliances. And that’s because the manufacturers, they don’t have enough workers. And they are having issues with supplies. So it’s not the trucking industry that’s causing the issues – empty store shelves and things like that – because we’re delivering it. So don’t blame us.’’
Brown says driver retention is another factor facing newcomers to the workforce.
“The new people coming into the industry – whether they’re single mothers, widows, empty nesters, retirees, 18- to 21-year-olds – they’re coming in but (the companies) are not retaining them,” Brown says.
Employee retention is a big issue for Marshall Franklin, president and CFO of Knoxville-based Highway Transport, a leader in bulk chemical transportation.
In a recent press release, the company announced it has a record number of professional drivers through both recruiting and retention, as well as “a culture of support and recognition and a historic pay increase” for drivers.
“We employ an elite class of drivers who consistently deliver on ‘Our Promise’ to our customers every day, arriving safely and on time,” Franklin says. “They are hardworking and committed to our standard of excellence, and we are committed to making Highway Transport the best place for them to choose to work.”
Employee-owned
In order to combat the driver shortage, many companies have taken a sports-like approach to prospective employees, offering signing bonuses ranging from $1,500 to $10,000 or more.
Trucking firm TCW has taken it an innovative step further.
TCW began operation in 1948 as a family-owned business started by Howard George and continuing through three generations. When Scott George became CEO last year, one of his major initiatives was to turn it into an employee-owned transportation and logistics business.
Jan. 1, George officially transferred TCW Inc., ownership to company employees, stating the move would secure the company’s viability and legacy. In a statement, George says it gives TCW “a competitive edge” over other companies regarding recruiting and retention of employees.
“Yes, we see this is a competitive advantage,” George says. “Along with a great job with excellent benefits in an essential industry, you can now have ownership in the company. It has already provided a boost to recruiting and retention and we expect that to increase.”
Older drivers started early
Veteran long-haulers Matt Neary, who drives for McKee Foods Transportation in Collegedale, near Chattanooga, and TCW driver John Henderson of Lebanon question the fuss made over the Drive Safe Act. Both got their taste of tractor-trailers early in life – well before there was a Drive Safe Act.
Neary, who has driven professionally for 20-plus years, grew up in a trucking family and remembers going on runs with his grandfather, Bob Dykes, who owned a dozen trucks when he operated out of Crossville.
“When all the other kids were spending time in the summers at the swimming pools and water parks, I was riding on the big truck with my grandfather. He was a major part and my draw into trucking and trucks as a whole. I just enjoyed going with him as a child, sitting in the passenger seat and just being a part of the industry and riding in the big truck,” Neary recalls.
At 16, Neary helped his grandfather service trucks on weekends. At 19, he enrolled in truck driving school and got an intrastate CDL to drive within the state lines of Tennessee.
“I like the idea overall, the pilot program for trucking. It is very diverse. There are a lot of options in the trucking industry – different types of trucking as far as local versus regional versus over the road,” adds Neary, 41. “Really, it depends on the individual trucking company itself as to whether they have the resources available to be able to employ and train very young drivers 18- and 19-years-old.
“It’s important that drivers at a young age, when they come into this, that they’re able to get with a company that has driver trainers that are vetted and that have a great safety record on their own to be able to help them along,” adds Neary, a road team captain in the Tennessee Trucking Association
“It’s also important to try to keep young drivers close to home and give those drivers the ability to stay somewhat local, to be able to give keep tabs on them.”
Henderson, 58, has been driving for 21 years with 1.68 million safe miles as part of a 36-year career in the industry.
He says it’s important to get teenagers into the industry regardless of whether they start as drivers, and there are a variety of jobs in the industry.
“I understand why people are looking at how do we fix the driver shortage because as consumer demand keeps increasing, then you have to keep up with the pace,” Henderson says.
“That gap up until a person is 21 usually gets their attention somewhere in the workforce. A lot of times, people don’t cycle into trucking until possibly a second career choice, maybe even a third. So, to harness that group would be would be very beneficial.
“Get them working the docks, get them being around it. Maybe once in a while, they’ll be able to get thrown in the truck with the guys. He’s got a city pickup and delivery and throw him in the truck with him to help do deliveries. Start learning the ropes.”