Short on Pay Can raising driver wages slow the driver shortage?
By Bethany May Managing Editor
While freight volumes and demand
continue to grow, the conversation about the driver shortage becomes louder. In the American Transportation Research Institute’s (ATRI) annual sur- vey of trucking’s top issues, the driver shortage has consistently been ranked in the top five. This year, the supply- demand imbalance is second only to hours-of-service regulations. Though the concern has been
growing since 2010, finding a resolu- tion is getting more complicated as the aging workforce inches closer to retire- ment and a younger class is needed to replace them. Lori Furnell, vice presi- dent of business development at ACS Advertising, explains, “The biggest issue we have is the hole in the bucket. We don’t have enough coming in the fun-
ARKANSAS TRUCKING REPORT | Issue 1 2015
nel—new people into the industry to offset the people who are retiring. Pay is a big part of that and the different lifestyle. If I can’t get paid enough in the long term to warrant me living this lifestyle, then I’m not going to stay. It may be a job for a season, but it won’t be a career.” In the last year, publications like
the The New York Times, Business Insider and Bloomberg published articles focus- ing on driver pay as the solution to the driver shortage, and American Trucking Associations Vice Chairman Kevin Burch claims it isn’t that simple and pay isn’t the only thing driving the shortage. Furnell, who regularly speaks about
recruiting and retention in transporta- tion, says that current wages can only play a role in getting some drivers into the industry, but once they realize the hourly rate or wage advancement oppor- tunities, it doesn’t keep them in one place or even in the industry.
The issues of driver compensation,
lifestyle demands and the respect owed but not often enough given to the posi- tion cannot be separated in recruiting and retaining drivers. The industry’s heels aren’t coming
off the ground and certainly aren’t step- ping on any gas pedals until everyone in the industry understands and reconciles the wages of American truck drivers to the demanding lifestyle.
PRICE OF THE LIFE The industry may not be able to
improve parts of a driver’s life because of inconveniences built into the job. Long haul drivers will always have to spend some nights away from home. Drivers will always log a lot of sedentary hours behind the wheel. Furnell says, “They [new driv-
ers] don’t know what they are getting 37
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