Trucking companies are having a difficult time hiring these days.

When the average trucker is estimated to spend at least 6 weeks on average at a time on the road, sometimes even months, it's easy to see why many young people today might not find this to be an appealing career prospect. Not only are they having difficulty finding drivers but there is also reportedly a high turnover rate for employment with trucking companies as well, some carriers have seen 80 percent or more turnover.

You might have expected self-driving trucks to come along and solve some of these issues, but for now there is still a pressing need for drivers.

Many companies are so desperate to hire new drivers that they are increasingly offering competitive compensation packages, with lucrative sign-on bonuses, to try and attract anyone who might be interested in a job change.

Companies like Walmart who have their own private fleet of trucks (thousands of them), have been effected by the shortage and they've reportedly doubled their spending on trying to attract and retain new drivers this year.

It's alleged that the smaller trucking fleets are much less selective about who they hire and so they've been reportedly having an easier time finding and hiring drivers, the number of small trucking firms has reportedly grown by at least 4 percent since last year.

As larger truck companies struggle to find the right people for the job though, they might need to reassess their requirements and ease-up on them if they eventually want those positions filled. If they continue to have difficulty in finding someone to drive the goods to where they need to be, then that ultimately means that we will see higher prices on the shelves.

The driver shortage has gotten so bad that it's even prompted some restaurants to start looking at purchasing more local ingredients for their establishments.

Looking to save on shipping costs, aside from other benefits, more restaurants today are making their purchases of vegetables and other food items from local growers in their community.

There are thousands of drivers who have already been hired since last year, as trucking company payrolls have reported seeing a dramatic rise. Unfortunately for the larger trucking companies, they are allegedly suffering much worse from the driver shortage, more so than smaller companies. Many truck drivers out there today might want to be their own boss, and if they own their own truck they could establish their own company rather than work for a larger trucking company. This means that the larger trucking companies will need to be increasingly competitive and creative with their offerings, in trying to attract drivers to join them rather than another company or start their own venture.

With signing bonuses ranging from $1500 to $10k or more,...

Some job postings in this industry stipulate that there is the opportunity to make $70k per year or more, with a guaranteed opportunity for multiple raises in the first year, among other incentives such as loan repayment opportunities for training and flexible scheduling. With offers like these, trucking companies ultimately shouldn't have any problem trying to fill their vacant slots.

However, some reports suggest that by the end of this year that the trucker shortage could be more than 60,000+ and over the next decade it's estimated that the industry will be required to hire tens of thousands of new drivers, many who will replace drivers who are retiring.

Pics:
Pixabay
pic 2 - pixabay
pic 3 -Miami Agent Magazine

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