You’ll hear from time to time about layoffs that are occurring in the trucking industry. But if you follow the news closely and you understand the industry, you’ll find that these layoffs will have little to no affect on new drivers that are entering the industry. In fact, in some ways the economic downturn will actually help people who are now coming out of school and are new to the industry. How can this be? There are several things to consider.
Non-Driver Layoffs
First of all, most of the layoffs that involve the trucking industry are not driver layoffs. Many of them are office personnel, mechanics, and management. These layoffs are also coming from companies that are in the trucking industry, like the engine builders and truck builders, but these are factory workers that are being laid off, not drivers. These count as “trucking industry layoffs” and make for good headlines, but for the most part do not affect drivers.
Driver Layoffs Mostly Limited To Certain Types Of Companies
Often times the companies that are laying off drivers are doing so because two companies have merged into one, and there becomes an over abundance of drivers in a certain region. These type of layoffs occur most often in the LTL companies like CCX, Yellow-Roadway, and Conway. These companies have terminals throughout the U.S. and when two companies merge, there tends to be an overlap of terminals in certain areas. Some of the drivers at the affected terminals will be given the option of transferring to another terminal, while some may be laid off. Drivers that are coming out of CDL schooling and are new to the industry almost never go to work for one of these companies in their first year of driving, so these type of layoffs will not affect new drivers.
Another circumstance where drivers may be laid off is in trucking fleets that are owned by private companies – like factories. If a company owns their own trucking fleet and sales drop, the company often times will not branch out and begin hauling freight for other companies. They only haul their own freight. So if business slows, there is less freight to be hauled, and drivers will either get a smaller number of runs per week, or in times of real hardship for the company, will be laid off. Working for a large, independently-owned trucking company that can haul freight for anyone they like is one way to keep this circumstance from happening to you.
Hiring Student Drivers Cuts Costs
Another key point to consider is that the number one priority for trucking companies right now is to cut costs. While cost-cutting is always one of the top priorities for companies, it has become critically important in this current economic downturn. Freight rates have dropped because the amount of freight available has dropped, so carriers must cut back on costs to remain in business during times of decreasing revenues. One of the largest expenses for trucking companies is their payroll. By hiring students straight out of school instead of experienced drivers, the trucking companies are able to save a lot of money. So in this respect, the economic downturn is actually helping students find jobs!
In speaking with several trucking companies that own their own CDL driving schools, most of them are hiring as many student-drivers as they can get. A few of them had told me there was a temporary hiring freeze during December, but that was related more toward their end-of-year financial numbers than it was to demand. A slowdown or freeze in hiring in December is common across many industries. But even in these tough economic times, most trucking companies were not slowing down their hiring of student truck drivers.
High Turnover Prevents The Need For Layoffs
The trucking industry is famous for its incredibly high turnover rate, which tends to average over 100% for many companies. Because of this, if a trucking company wants to downsize its fleet, all they have to do is slow down their hiring for a short time and the fleet size will shrink from turnover alone. So for most companies, especially the larger trucking companies, there is never a need to layoff drivers.
So as you can see, even though times are tough in the economy and the media outlets love the word “layoffs” in their headlines, the trucking industry continues to bring in as many student drivers as ever to fill in the gaps caused by turnover and to keep the cost of labor down. So if you’re considering a career in the trucking industry or are in the process of getting your CDL training, you likely have very little to be concerned about. Jobs are plentiful for new drivers in good times and in bad.
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Great post Brett! This has definitely been a concern for me but you really put things into perspective.
Keep up the great posts!
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Another thing that will effect a company is when they are only willing to haul a certain frieght such as paper, I just got laid off because of the paper mills shutting down, because of the price or need of paper. but this company refuse to haul anything else.
Hey Doug.
Yap, you’re totally right. If a company has a very narrow focus on the type of freight they’ll haul, they’re going to be prone to the ups and downs within that sector.
I definitely feel like in a poor economy like this that the best luck will be found at larger companies with a much more diverse freight pool, especially the refrigerated carriers who will always have a base of food products to haul.
Hello, I am glad I found this site. My husband drives for Conway. He has been there three years now. He started out with CFI and they turned into Conway. You are right – layoffs do not effect new drivers. My husband came out of driving school and went to work for CFI right out of school. It is very different now three years later. I am going to write a paper on what you have to say. I am taking an ethics class and we have been asked to write a paper on curent affairs to show what is ethical or unethical in what is going on today in the world. So if it is ok with you I would like to add you to my paper. If I am right I would site this writer as ( Brett Aquila (Jan.4 2009).
Hi Cindy.
Yeah, that would be fine if you included my writing in your paper. I always figured I would end up in an ethics study of some sort – but I thought I’d be the subject matter!
Good luck with your paper!
I will let you know how my paper comes out. It is due on the 9th of this month and takes 72 hours to get it back. It has to be 4 pages long, thank God I am long winded
Ok…then why is Swift barely hiring new drivers, Werner states there are no positions in my area (Denver terminal) and Stevens has a hiring freeze? I’m a recent graduated looking for my new job
Now let’s be clear here – I didn’t say every company in America would hire you instantly on the spot. I’m saying that if you’re new to the industry, you will be able to find work. But it is taking longer and getting more difficult as this economy gets worse. But several companies, including C.R. England, Prime, and Central Refrigerated have all been actively hiring lately, and several of our website’s visitors are either in schooling or out on the road with trainers at these companies right now. I understand the concern and frustration when trying to get out there on the road and get rolling, but you’ve only mentioned 3 companies out of the tens of thousands of them nationwide. There are plenty that are hiring, and hopefully as we get into the springtime and out of late winter, which is the slowest time of the year for the trucking industry even in good times, the hiring will pick up even more and jobs will become more plentiful. Companies will hire and then put on a hiring freeze – kinda like turning a valve on or off. The trick is being in touch with the right company at the right time. Does you school have job placement by chance? If so, they should be able to point you in the right direction. Just keep at it and be diligent – it’s going to be tougher getting rollin right now than it normally would, but you will get rolling – which is a lot more than most people can say in pretty much any other industry across the U.S. right now. Best of luck to ya!
Sounds like a pile of crap to me. These companys are going to cut cost by hiring inexperienced drivers. New drivers are more likely to be involved in wrecks! Most will take more time to deliver because they are not familiar with routes and location of business. The high turnover rate will be the result that the new driver is working a lot of hours and not loging all the hours it took to complete a route and realize they are working for nothing. Then they realize they are living in their truck and never seeing their family and the company does not care because the market is slow and these companys will take advantage of any driver that comes to work for them because there are more truckers than jobs. That is why these companys will hire the newbe because the experienced knows the companys tricks!!!!
I finished C 1 truck driving school in Oct of 2009 and got a job with Arrow. I was on
the road for 3 weeks when they shut down. Now I am really having trouble finding a job. Most companies want at least 6 months experience.
Wow, now that is some terrible luck! We have a huge database of truck driving jobs that you can find here: http://www.truckingtruth.com/find_truck_driving_jobs_state.html
Also, you can try contacting trucking companies that have their own schooling – they would likely be able to find a way to work with you. You can find that here: http://www.truckingtruth.com/free_truck_driving_schools/homepage2.html
With the slow economy and the slow season we’re in right now it’s not going to be easy. You just have to apply like crazy everywhere you can and call each company back at least every other day until you can get a recruiter on the phone to process your application. They have tons of applications sitting in piles collecting dust – you have to be diligent to get them to get yours off that pile and processed.