Current Events > With a possible 60% truck driver shortage looming on the horizon, what can be..

(+) Yeah! (+)

done? Everyone wanting to be famous on Youtube and social media have forgotten there are other jobs out there.

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make trucks remote controlled

id be a truckie if i can drive it from home at my PC

VTrucker

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ModLogic posted...

make trucks remote controlled

id be a truckie if i can drive it from home at my PC

VTrucker

I think that would be nigh impoossible in some locations.

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Monolith1676 posted...

I think that would be nigh impoossible in some locations.

UPS already has self-driving trucks operating in the mid-west. Rest of the country is only a matter of time.

Also bought a few hundred of these last month;


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companies need to find a way to make the job more attractive. Better pay, better conditions, better advancement opportunities.

That's basically it.

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Too many law changes in the past 5 years made it tougher to be a truck driver.

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The world: Truck drivers will soon be obselete thanks to automatic driving tech
*People stop becoming truck drivers*
The world: Who could have foreseen this :O

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Btw I've thought about this job before. I mean you don't have to talk to anyone, you have your own company, lots of downtime after shifts.

But then I remember that my blood simmers at about 90C at the best of times when driving, so probably not a good idea.

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there's too many asshole drivers that would probably make me road rage hard in a 40 ton death machine so i ain't doing it

though if all the vehicles on the road were self driving so no more assholes drivers.... but then there would already be self driving semi trucks

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ALIEN_WORK2HOP posted...

companies need to find a way to make the job more attractive. Better pay, better conditions, better advancement opportunities.

That's basically it.

Most of your condition problems are from the DOT, at least in the US. In their crusade for safety, they've managed to create a haphazard maze of laws and regulations that are a total nightmare to keep track of. A common complaint among truckers is "thanks to the regulations, I can't stop when I need to stop." Then another large bulk of condition problems are you have to share the road with a large pack of brain dead idiots who think you can stop 60,000+ pounds of truck and cargo on a dime like it's the fucking minivan they just used to cut you off. Of course then, once you're off the highway, you have roads being garbage, you get bounced around in your seat like a pinball, and that's hard on your back.

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Pay them more. Those guys don't make enough money for the sacrifice they make living on the road for weeks or even months at a time. Brokers have been taking more and more of that pie for decades while driver wages have remained stagnate.

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Lot of problems in the industry and many reasons people don't want to be one.
Away from home isolated for weeks at a time.
DOT and DOT officers trying to fine you for every little thing.
Your company and dispatchers are unforgiving and will literary throw you under the the truck if something goes wrong.
Have to deal with idiot motorists who don't realize how dangerous and powerful these trucks are.
Incredibly unhealthy to be seating in a cab for weeks at a time.
Piss jugs.
Plus many others
We are not even close to be able to RC these behemoths since that's massive death accident ready to happen.

Maninstagnate posted...

Lot of problems in the industry and many reasons people don't want to be one.
Away from home isolated for weeks at a time.
DOT and DOT officers trying to fine you for every little thing.
Your company and dispatchers are unforgiving and will literary throw you under the the truck if something goes wrong.
Have to deal with idiot motorists who don't realize how dangerous and powerful these trucks are.
Incredibly unhealthy to be seating in a cab for weeks at a time.
Piss jugs.
Plus many others
We are not even close to be able to RC these behemoths since that's massive death accident ready to happen.

There are tons of local route jobs that have you back at home in time for dinner every day.

And yes, autonamous or remote driving trucks aren't likely for a very long time, maybe a few generations from now, if ever. Maybe in some places like Australia where you have long ass roads that go on a straight line with no traffic for hundreds of miles I could see it happening sooner.

ALIEN_WORK2HOP posted...

companies need to find a way to make the job more attractive. Better pay, better conditions, better advancement opportunities.

That's basically it.

Won't ever happen because the logistics field has gotten increasingly more volatile due to the ripple effect of Amazon's own shitty (yet successful) practices to meet delivery expectations. So while they pay a whole lot better than any warehouse or labor worker, companies just stuck to that archaic "I PAY YOU BIG MONEY FUCK YOU!" mindset ignoring the notion that time is gonna quickly leave them in the dust.

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Wouldn't be as much of an issue if we had decent infrastructure and train networks, but instead we're operating with stuff 60 years out of date.

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Monolith1676 posted...

done? Everyone wanting to be famous on Youtube and social media have forgotten there are other jobs out there.

Why the nerve of people!

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My friend works in transit logistics and auditing and is totally confident that autonomous trucks are coming sooner rather than later. It's probably more due to these sort of considerations that people aren't jumping into the field, rather than YouTube

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It's almost like driving for 20 hours a day with no company and getting hemorrhoids isn't an appealing job

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ALIEN_WORK2HOP posted...

companies need to find a way to make the job more attractive. Better pay, better conditions, better advancement opportunities.

That's basically it.

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ALIEN_WORK2HOP posted...

companies need to find a way to make the job more attractive. Better pay, better conditions, better advancement opportunities.

That's basically it.

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ALIEN_WORK2HOP posted...

companies need to find a way to make the job more attractive. Better pay, better conditions, better advancement opportunities.

That's basically it.

And this goes for every job too. Im glad it seems like people are finally waking up to this. Hopefully something will actually be DONE about it too.

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ALIEN_WORK2HOP posted...

companies need to find a way to make the job more attractive. Better pay, better conditions, better advancement opportunities.

That's basically it.

This. We dont want to get paid a break-even sum of money. Too much profit goes to the top and not enough goes to the workers. Stop drug testing for marijuana, too.

Trucking is ahead of the curve as they have had issues hiring due to shit pay for decades. New truckers make very little and are gone all the time if over the road.

If they paid more money for entry level jobs they would solve the problem quickly.

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People saying pay more like they already dont make a shit ton of money

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Samurontai posted...

People saying pay more like they already dont make a shit ton of money

Clearly it's not enough to draw people into the profession. In the words of Henry Hill "fuck you, pay me".

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Samurontai posted...

People saying pay more like they already dont make a shit ton of money

People have been crowing about how businesses will only pay their employees what they're worth as "the market dictates" for the last 40ish years.

What they make currently is irrelevant, clearly they need to be paid more.

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ScazarMeltex posted...

Clearly it's not enough to draw people into the profession. In the words of Henry Hill "fuck you, pay me".

Its more that its just not a very appealing job for other reasons lmao

Pay definitely not being one of them

Both of my parents work exclusively as recruiters for various trucking companies. The pay the truckers are offered, and the benefits they are offered are insane lol

Honestly the biggest reasons, my parents tell me, for why they cant hire drivers, is due to them having various prior felonies, having a history of accidents, not actually being qualified to drive a semi, being away from home for too long, or not being allowed to bring a pet/accompanying person (this rule varies from company to company of course). Pay is never a reason as to why a driver has turned down a job, in my parents case anyway

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Doom_Art posted...

People have been crowing about how businesses will only pay their employees what they're worth as "the market dictates" for the last 40ish years.

What they make currently is irrelevant, clearly they need to be paid more.

False, see my prior post. Theyre payed well enough, its the other reasons that stop them.

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Samurontai posted...

not actually being qualified to drive a semi

Yep, I know my friend who applied had to pay for his own school and licensing. He couldn't afford to do it so he didn't

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Balrog0 posted...

Yep, I know my friend who applied had to pay for his own school and licensing. He couldn't afford to do it so he didn't

Every company my parents recruit for pays for schooling. Guess it depends on the region

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Samurontai posted...

Theyre payed well enough

Clearly not since they can't fill any enough positions

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Doom_Art posted...

Clearly not since they can't fill any enough positions

So youre just trolling. Okay

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Samurontai posted...

So youre just trolling. Okay

Well really, it's a perfectly valid thing.

Employer offers this job at this rate

Either not enough people have the requirements to perform the job or not enough people feel the job is worth it at the current rate

Ergo the employer either decreases the requirements for hiring or increases the rate to entice applicants

Dunno why you think this is trolling

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After I finished grad school in 2011, I thought about doing over the road trucking for work. I was living with my parents struggling to find work. I like to drive and I thought it would be cool to travel the country.

I still sorta follow the industry. Owner operator is the way to go if you can handle the long hours and the initial loans.

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I thought truck driving paid super well for what it is

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ALIEN_WORK2HOP posted...

companies need to find a way to make the job more attractive. Better pay, better conditions, better advancement opportunities.

That's basically it.

*looks at Reagan's grave*
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Bio1590 posted...

*looks at Reagan's grave*

I only see a toilet

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Samurontai posted...

Both of my parents work exclusively as recruiters for various trucking companies

Sounds like your source may be slightly biased

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ScazarMeltex posted...

Clearly it's not enough to draw people into the profession. In the words of Henry Hill "fuck you, pay me".

It's not the money. A 40k+ entry lv trucking job fresh out of CDL school is easy to acquire and a shit ton for a 21yo. Compared to a 4 year degree where you're lucky to obtain a equivalent paying job with benefits of your field months after graduation.

The lifestyle is what pushes most away, all that money is worthless when you're on the road away from family and freinds whom you can only visit for 1-3 days every few weeks or months.

DocDelicious posted...

UPS already has self-driving trucks operating in the mid-west. Rest of the country is only a matter of time.

They can work in the mid rest and to a select few locations due to its ride open space and good roads. But most other sectors? Lol, no. GPS is oftentimes unreliable, if not outright useless, roads are being worked on or shut down reguarly, weather conditions that can impede conditions and etc.


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Most people I know who work in freight say automation isn't really going to be feasible for at least the next decade or so

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All 3 truck drivers I'm sort of close to had heart attacks by age 40. One of them died at age 51. Weird coincidence.

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