Originally published in Fleet Owner
By Ashik Karim
The trucker shortage is everyone’s problem.
The lack of drivers is causing the prices of nearly everything to go up, whether it’s your grocery bill, your business expenses or, perhaps worst of all, your Amazon Prime membership.
It’s all because shipping demands are rising in tandem with driver vacancies. For large carriers, this means a driver turnover rate as high as 94% while shipping demand, particularly for spot freight loads, is booming.
Recruiting and attracting qualified drivers is tougher than it’s ever been, yet the American Trucking Associations estimates the industry will need to onboard nearly 900,000 additional drivers within the next decade to meet demands. In the meantime, significant portions of fleets are sitting empty in truckyards across the U.S and beyond.