Current Events > Trucker shortage puts brakes on American economy

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Trucker shortage puts brakes on economy

Nearly every item sold in America touches a truck at some point, so the industry can affect the broader economy.

As the nation grapples with a historically low level of unemployment, trucking companies are doing what economists have said firms need to do to attract and retain workers: Theyre hiking pay significantly, offering bonuses and even recruiting people they previously wouldnt have considered.

But its not working. The industry reports a growing labor shortage 63,000 open positions this year, a number expected to more than double in coming years that could have wide-ranging impacts on the American economy.

Nearly every item sold in America touches a truck at some point, which explains why the challenges facing the industry, including trucking companies rapidly raising prices as they raise wages, have special power to affect the entire economy. Already, delivery delays are common, and businesses such as Amazon, General Mills and Tyson Foods are raising prices as they pass higher transportation costs along to consumers. A Walmart executive called rising transportation costs the companys primary head wind on a recent call with investors.

Technology leaders such as Elon Musk hold out driverless trucks as a solution, but industry insiders say that is many years away. For now the industry simply cant find a way to move goods as fast and as cheaply as they have in the past. This logjam will be especially perilous, economists say, if competition for truckers pushes up prices so quickly that the country faces uncontrolled inflation, which can easily lead to a recession.

This is slowing down the economy already, said Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group. If it takes me a week instead of two days to ship products from point A to B, Im losing potential business.

At TDDS Technical Institute, an independent trucker school in central Ohio where Blocksom has considered enrolling, veteran teachers say they have never seen it this bad. They think there are closer to 100,000 truck driver openings.

As it has trouble recruiting new workers, the industry is also struggling to hold on to drivers. Turnover in the trucking industry has skyrocketed to 94 percent, according to the American Trucking Associations, meaning most drivers at the major trucking companies dont spend more than a year in their jobs.

Read more:
https://www.pressherald.com/2018/06/28/trucker-shortage-puts-brakes-on-economy/
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what's stopping them from paying Mexicans pennies to do it?

like the UK does with Polish and Romanians
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Thanks Obama

Use drones
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Trucking sounds awful. Drive thousands of miles to get somewhere and just turn around and go somewhere else. If im driving like that there needs to be a prize at the end if the trip.
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Self driving trucks will probably be here soon, even though that sounds frightening as hell.
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BuckVanHammer posted...

Trucking sounds awful. Drive thousands of miles to get somewhere and just turn around and go somewhere else. If im driving like that there needs to be a prize at the end if the trip.

The prize is a paycheck.
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With shit companies like werner, what did you expect to happen?
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When I was 21 I drove a semi for a couple years. Its pretty good money for something that is a low skill job and doesnt require a college degree. But the hours suck and people dont want to do it.

As long as you dont have multiple DUIs, its not a bad way to make 50k a year, especially if youre still single and have no kids.

Roshon posted...

and even recruiting people they previously wouldnt have considered.But its not working.

what a load of horse shit i know for a fact that if i applied for the job i would get the "after careful consideration" bull shit email a month later. When we get the next recession in 2019 or 2020 everyone is going to be applying for those jobs if they aren't already

CM_Ponch posted...

BuckVanHammer posted...

Trucking sounds awful. Drive thousands of miles to get somewhere and just turn around and go somewhere else. If im driving like that there needs to be a prize at the end if the trip.

The prize is a paycheck.

Ya i get its their job, im just a baby about long road trips with nothing special at the end...
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