There are days that you have to concentrate on what is happening at the moment. If you can't get through that situation there is no point at looking down the road. In any business, if you never look down the road, that view never changes. There are times, when I believe the entire trucking industry is only looking at the moment.
Take for instance “The Driver Shortage”. The industry can not seem to see that the industry is the problem. They continuously look at stop gap measures. The trucking industry refuses to look in the mirror. The solutions that the industry wants to try do not solve the problem long term. They sacrifice safety in order to maintain low driver wages.
The idea of entry level driver training standards is a step in the right direction. Treating drivers as disposable assets is the leading cause of the “driver shortage”. Entry level standards increase the investment in new drivers. The more you have invested in someone the better you will treat them. Better treatment of drivers is the only way to solve the issue of the “driver shortage”.
The industry wants to increase the amount of drivers coming into the business. That is not the problem. It is estimated that we recruit 40,000 per month. Another estimate is that we have a fairly constant demand for about 3,500,000 CDLA holders. That math tells me that if the average trucking career lasted 7.3 years we would have an over supply of drivers. The problem is not that we don't attract enough people to the industry. The problem is that we don't keep them. What we are doing is akin to turning up the water and leaving the drain open.
The truck load segment of the industry has a problem. Our turnover rate hovers around 100%. The average driving career (3.2 years) is shorter than the average NFL career (3.5 years). We simply can not keep doing things the same way and expect different results. It is the definition of insanity. The industry wants to use 18 year old drivers and give permit holders the same responsibility as license holders. The rough equivalent of turning up the faucet without closing the drain. Safety becomes the sacrificial lamb.
There are solutions. Take a look at the less than truckload segment of the industry. The turnover rate there is practically non existent. Drivers are either paid for all of their time at work The line haul drivers are paid a combination of hourly during on duty non driving time and mileage for their driving time. Pick up and delivery drivers are paid hourly. They have health and retirement benefits. They stay.
There are other reforms that need to be made in the truck load industry. Investing in new drivers and paying them properly is a start. It is a better idea than lowering safety standards.