More Speed does not equal More Money

The State | 08/15/2004 | Companies need drivers to keep on trucking

Being away from home for long stretches at a time, driving 500 miles a day and battling traffic is lonely, stressful work and, as a result, the industry has a high turnover rate. Limited wage growth since trucking was deregulated in 1979 has exacerbated the problem.

But trucking executives say they’ve had to work even harder lately as jobs with comparable pay packages open up in construction, agriculture and manufacturing. That means companies need to lure new drivers and keep veterans from switching to careers that allow them to work closer to home.

Did they not see the previous line that wages have sucked since ‘79? What do they think can “lure” new drivers and keep veterans? Articles like this make my head explode. Where’s my duct tape?

High turnover “is a perennial problem,” Riley said. “But I would say the driver shortage has really gotten tighter over the last six months and a lot of it is driven by the improvement in the economy.”

As a result, retention efforts are intensifying.

To make truckers happier, companies are trying everything from increasing the speed they can drive to allowing more “empty miles” so they can head toward home even if their trucks are empty and there’s no freight moving in that direction.

Increase the speed they can drive so they have the illusion that the faster they drive, the more money they can make. How about… gee, let me think… MORE FREAKIN’ MONEY!!! Plain and simple. It’s not a lifestyle issue. A lot of jobs suck. And this lifestyle isn’t the best when you have a family. But pay people enough and they will get done. Getting drivers home isn’t as complicated as they make it out to be either.

Originally posted 2008-11-18 04:10:00.

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