Recent shortages in truck drivers continue to increase. As a result, freight rates are also rising and deliveries are slowed.
According to Ben Cubitt, senior vice president of Transplace, which manages freight delivery for businesses, the lack of truckers is predicted to come as a result of retiring Baby Boomers and a decrease in interest in the career among younger people.
"It's getting harder to get drivers," says Mike Card, president of Combined Transport of Central Point, to USA Today. "I could hire 50 guys right now."
Many of the unemployed have a difficult time affording $4,000 to $6,000 six-week driver-training courses, says Rosalyn Wilson, senior business analyst of consulting firm Declan.
Also hindering the applicant pool is the fact that truck drivers have to be at least 21 years old. Wilson says that this might lead high school graduates who have an interest in pursuing truck driving to instead pursue careers in plumbing and other trades.
To make hiring even more complicated, the government recently began publicizing safety ratings of all truck companies, which caused many companies to only hire drivers who didn't have blemishes on their driving records.
According to the trucking association, the driver turnover rate at large carriers increased to 90 percent in the first quarter, the highest in four years.
One positive behind the shortage of drivers is that current drivers' salaries have increased by 5 percent, says Noel Perry, managing director at FTR associates.
Companies will soon be forced to go out of their way to find drivers when next year's harsher federal limits on the amount of hours drivers can work is applied. This will compel companies to hire more drivers if they want to get their products delivered on time.
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