In fact, according to Bob Costello, Chief Economist for the American Trucking Association, “The increase in the driver shortage should be a warning to carriers, shippers and policymakers because if conditions don’t change substantively, our industry could be short just over 100,000 drivers in five years and 160,000 drivers in 2028.”

This continued decrease in drivers available could result in higher prices and even more frequently, out of stock items. For a consumer base that is becoming more reliant on in store pick-up and store to home deliveries from local stores, this problem may become more prevalent. Local, smaller companies will absolutely feel the burden of the shortage before your larger national chains but in the end, consumers who rely on trucking companies to get their goods from point A to point B, will be the ones the most affected. The fact of the matter is simple, less drivers available to transport the products we purchase on a daily basis, the less available those products will be and thus the higher the demand.

As I have mentioned before, all it not lost! The key to alleviating the driver shortage is change the societal view on what it means to be a Truck Driver. If we can get more people interested in a career in the transportation industry and change the stigma surrounding such jobs, we can help to try and fill the nearly 7.4 million job openings out there!

For more information on how the driver shortage is affecting job seekers, companies and the economy, check out the article by www.usatoday.com.

The Trillium brand of companies is privately owned by René Poch and provides more than 30 years of industry leading recruitment and staffing services through its divisions including: Trillium Staffing, Trillium Construction Services, Trillium Driver Solutions, Trillium Marine, Trillium Technical, Trillium Environmental, and Trillium Techs. With approximately 90 offices nationwide and nearly 400 internal recruitment professionals, the Trillium brand is proud to be recognized by Staffing Industry Analysts as a Top 25 Largest Industrial Staffing Firm in the U.S., a Top 100 Largest Staffing Firm in the U.S., a Top 100 Fastest Growing Staffing Firm in the U.S., and a 2015 winner of National Best and Brightest Companies to Work For. For more information please visit www.trilliumstaffing.com.

“It’s not that the number of truck drivers has been in a constant decline. It’s just that it’s not growing enough to match up with what has been needed in demand, “ stated American Trucking Association’s Chief Economist Bob Costello. In fact the ATA believes that the trucking industry is still short 50,000 drivers.

For the trucking industry specifically, the issue may run a little deeper that just not having enough truckers to fill the available need. For instance, the driver shortage tends to mainly focus on a lack of long-haul or OTR drivers, not just any licensed driver. These types of position are historically more difficult to fill simply due to the idea of being away from home for longer periods of time. Enticing new drivers in the door where they may have to commit being away from home for a week or more at a time is a hard sell. In addition, the trucking industry faces additional obstacles such as federal laws that prohibit potential candidates between the age of 18 to 20 from driving Class 8 commercial motor vehicles across state lines, cutting into the already depleted talent pool available. The main problem here is that this removes the possibility of students looking at trucking as a long-term career right out of high school.

However, the Census Bureau has indicated that truckers who are under the age of 35 represent more women and minorities that those over the age of 55. With that said, even today over 90% of drivers are men. This simply means that the presence of more diversity in the industry in the younger generations is promising for the trucking industry in the long-run but as it sits today, the driver shortage is still more than prevalent. With online retailer giants like Amazon and Walmart constantly pushing for faster deliveries in a instant gratification society, the push for more logistic personnel will continue to be a struggle for distribution and logistics companies nationwide. For more details on what industry experts have to say, please check out www.ttnews.com.

The Trillium brand of companies is privately owned by René Poch and provides more than 30 years of industry leading recruitment and staffing services through its divisions including: Trillium Staffing, Trillium Construction Services, Trillium Driver Solutions, and Trillium Technical. With approximately 100 offices nationwide and nearly 400 internal recruitment professionals, the Trillium brand is proud to be recognized by Staffing Industry Analysts as a Top 25 Largest Industrial Staffing Firm in the U.S., a Top 100 Largest Staffing Firm in the U.S., a Top 100 Fastest Growing Staffing Firm in the U.S., and a 2017 and 2018 winner of National Best and Brightest Companies to Work For. For more information please visit www.trilliumstaffing.com.

Unfortunately, we are starting to feel the wrath of a very real Driver shortage. According to USA Today and thehustle.co, the United States is currently experiencing a Driver shortage of 51,000 Drivers nationwide. This has resulted in a 6-10% increase in shipping costs. Guess who gets to pay the difference? That’s right, we do! In fact, with more and more Baby Boomers retiring every year and no one replacing them in the trucking industry, it is projected that by 2021, the US will be experienced a shortage of more than 100,000 Drivers.

In an effort to combat the shortage, shipping and logistics companies have had to increase wages by about 10% just in the last 18 months but are still struggling to fill seats. In fact, Tyson, the nation’s leading chicken distributor has stated that in order to offset a $200 million increase in shipping and distribution costs, consumers will begin to see increases in their products.

Even with investing more and more money into driverless trucks and other technologies in the coming years, it just won’t be enough to offset the increase cost in locating and retaining Driver talent. In addition, consumers will continue to become more reliant on e-commerce giants such as Amazon for their goods in lieu of visiting local stores. Unfortunately, in the end, the Driver shortage has and will continue to directly affect logistics and transportation companies, but also local businesses and the end consumer which includes you and me.

The Trillium brand of companies is privately owned by René Poch and provides more than 30 years of industry leading recruitment and staffing services through its divisions including: Trillium Staffing, Trillium Construction Services, Trillium Driver Solutions, Trillium Marine, Trillium Technical, Trillium Environmental, and Trillium Techs. With approximately 90 offices nationwide and nearly 400 internal recruitment professionals, the Trillium brand is proud to be recognized by Staffing Industry Analysts as a Top 25 Largest Industrial Staffing Firm in the U.S., a Top 100 Largest Staffing Firm in the U.S., a Top 100 Fastest Growing Staffing Firm in the U.S., and a 2015 winner of National Best and Brightest Companies to Work For. For more information please visit www.trilliumstaffing.com.