Truck driver shortage

First off, trucking is awesome. The open road, friendly working class people everywhere you stop, shady women, radio blaring, 20 cups of coffee per day.....I love it. It was a side gig for me, but still it was great.

There's a trucker shortage because the rules and regulations kept increasing, pushing long time drivers out of the business, while at the same time it lost its appeal to younger people. Meanwhile, the demand for truckers kept increasing as global and internet commerce increased and local supply chains were transformed into international supply chains. A double-whammy. It can be fixed but moral and safety crusaders are gonna have to get off their soapboxes and listen to the guys who actually do the job. (No. You don't know better than them.)
 
Fredmccallyrtr said:
First off, trucking is awesome. The open road, friendly working class people everywhere you stop, shady women, radio blaring, 20 cups of coffee per day.....I love it. It was a side gig for me, but still it was great.

There's a trucker shortage because the rules and regulations kept increasing, pushing long time drivers out of the business, while at the same time it lost its appeal to younger people. Meanwhile, the demand for truckers kept increasing as global and internet commerce increased and local supply chains were transformed into international supply chains. A double-whammy. It can be fixed but moral and safety crusaders are gonna have to get off their soapboxes and listen to the guys who actually do the job. (No. You don't know better than them.)
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Well stated. I drove for a while out of high school but migrated into the office into management. I still get to slam some gears from time to time but hiring is a real issue. Too many regs and BS.
 
As far as recruiting younger people into trucking, the best way to do that is to put them in a truck and hit the road. Give me a cross country load with a back haul, some 21 year old kid who's never left his hometown and by the time we get back I'll have you a truck driver. It's one of those things that has to be experienced to be appreciated.

With that said about 4 months ago I met one of the most impressive drivers skills-wise I ever have. He was 25 years old and ran his own trucking business already. He did a blind side backing job between a million dollar mixing machine and a broke down excavator with about an inch to spare on both sides combined to a barn filled with ammonium nitrate on his first try, while smoking a cigarette and drinking a Monster. 4 farmers and me were watching and cheers broke out like Dale Earnhardt had just taken the lead at Talladega.
 
Truck drivers will mostly be a thing of the past in the not too distant future. I don't think that would be a wise long term career decision for someone in their twenties.
 
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