Driver Shortage Myth Busted

Frankly, I’m a little tired of the negativity. Maybe not perfect, but it pays for this;

Not only is it negative, it's just the usual worn out phrases you hear from the uneducated, uninformed, and unmotivated.

The carrier I work for pays on the low end of average yet I made close to 80k my first year in trucking with tons of time off. I'm take 15 days off starting next week to go to Europe. My company won't make me clean out my truck, in fact my TM said she'll do what ever is needed to insure I have it without it being used.

Think about the implications of an asset not generating money for half of a month so the driver can go on vacation to Europe. (Yeah, I'm really suffering there).

The reality is that for every terminal rat complaining and saying the exact same things, the question is how are you contributing as an employee? Are you willing to try new things, flexible? Are you giving it your all? Are you safe, reliable and easy to work with?

I make a killing doing this, it's far easier than most if not all other trades I've been in. Me personally, I'll do whatever is needed to stay out of the meat grinder of construction that I was in for 35 years. I sure as heck wasn't buying 58k dollar toys as a carpenter.

Not only is it negative, it's just the usual worn out phrases you hear from the uneducated, uninformed, and unmotivated.

The carrier I work for pays on the low end of average yet I made close to 80k my first year in trucking with tons of time off. I'm take 15 days off starting next week to go to Europe. My company won't make me clean out my truck, in fact my TM said she'll do what ever is needed to insure I have it without it being used.

Think about the implications of an asset not generating money for half of a month so the driver can go on vacation to Europe. (Yeah, I'm really suffering there).

The reality is that for every terminal rat complaining and saying the exact same things, the question is how are you contributing as an employee? Are you willing to try new things, flexible? Are you giving it your all? Are you safe, reliable and easy to work with?

I make a killing doing this, it's far easier than most if not all other trades I've been in. Me personally, I'll do whatever is needed to stay out of the meat grinder of construction that I was in for 35 years. I sure as heck wasn't buying 58k dollar toys as a carpenter.

That’s a suhweet ride! Might be fun to pay for some track time and open it up, legally. 😎

It's a 21 but was never sold so it's a new car. It came with the Ford performance driving experience free, so I'll do that, but as time permits, I'll take it to the track for sure. I road race motorcycles, have for years and I also raced cars for a few years.

Nice wheels Davy!! Congrats!

What my driving allows me to do is to put my grandson through college and to support him while he goes to school. He has a summer job, but while in school he doesn’t have to work so that he can concentrate on his studies. As a result, he got a 3.8 GPA for his freshman year.

So like Steve and Davy, I’m a big fan of what the trucking industry allows me to accomplish with my family. And I can do this even though I have some age related difficulties that prevent me from doing other types of work.

So many topics in one thread.

1) The driver shortage is a total scam by the ATA to create a crisis in the minds of the public. They do this so they get support for their, "solutions" that all involve paying drivers LESS - CDL training in high schools, H2-B visas, allowing drivers from Mexico to run in the US, lowering the age for interstate driving, etc. If there were an actual shortage wages would be going up to attract more people to the industry.

What we have is churn - thousands of people earning their CDLs then giving up driving in their first year. Out of my CDL class of 30 only 2 were still driving 8 months later.

2) Truck driving is a, "big tent" - there are A LOT of driving jobs that are rarely, if ever discussed here. Waste Management (garbage trucks), the city bus company and others will train people to get their CDLs.

3) It's up to YOU to find the driving job that's right for YOU. The problem is there isn't a simple way to research all the types of driving jobs. It takes time and it it isn't easy. The good jobs that pay well and have low turnover rarely advertise. There are a lot of companies that just accept 100%+ annual driver turnover rather than make changes. In most industries that would be unacceptable.

4) Your mileage may vary. Just because one driver had a positive experience doesn't mean a different driver working for a different company will have the same experience. Not all companies are equal-pay, working conditions, home time and equipment condition can vary greatly just by changing the name on the side of the truck. There are definitely some companies that treat drivers much worse than others. Three drivers on a truck? Yeah, they've got that.

I agree with all this. The driver shortage is a myth, if there was a true shortage then wages would go up to compensate. I mean I think im pretty well compensated, I can support my family and I have a job where I'm home every weekend. And it is completely up to you to determine your productivity which is your pay. And if the company you are at isn't the right one then keep looking, there are thousands of trucking companies out there and im sure you'll find the right one. It is hard to start out, mainly because like you said some good companies very rarely advertise because they don't need to. They get enough people from word of mouth. Thats actually how I found my current company, I was looking and just happened to stumble on them.