December 2021 Newsletter
Survey Finds 65% of Truck Drivers Not Looking for New Jobs
The study, Examining Driver Opinions, in Today’s Driver Market survey found that 65.4% of drivers are not looking for a new job which is down 2.2% from May. This 2.2% decrease may seem insignificant but is a concern for a market where demand is outweighing supply.
The results showed that of the drivers not looking for a job, 62.7% are happy where they are, 17.5% want more experience, 8.9% have retired, 4.7% have health issues or concerns, and 4.2% are afraid of making a move in the current economy. The survey was released on November 2nd by Conversion Interactive Agency and Professional Driver Agency. Check out the results by clicking the link below!
ATA Leadership, Global Trucking Officials Meet to Discuss Key Issues
Transport leaders from around the world met in Geneva to discuss challenges with supply chain bottlenecks, driver shortages, and environmental issues. It highlighted the possibility of lowering the minimum driver age from 21 to 18 to help alleviate the global driver shortage problem.
Additionally, international counterparts were interested to learn more about the cooperation between U.S. truckers and freight rail operations to help with supply chain and space issues. Overall, attendees agreed that the supply and demand issues will not be resolved until mid-2022, but showed a willingness to solve the problems the trucking industry is facing today. Learn more about what was discussed at this year’s International Road Transport Union meeting.
Driver Shortage Again Tops ATRI Top Industry Issues List
The driver shortage leads the American Transportation Research Institute list of Top Industry Concerns for the fifth consecutive year. Over 2,500 trucking industry stakeholders participated in this year’s survey, made up of motor carriers, drivers, industry suppliers, driver trainers, and law enforcement. Concerns over the driver shortage significantly beat out the number two issue, driver retention, with four-times as many first-place votes. Other note-worthy results include, driver compensation ranking 3rd and the shortage of diesel technicians making the list for the first-time taking 10th place.
ATRI President Rebecca Brewster isn’t surprised by the results stating, “Coming out of the pandemic, with the increased demand for goods and other pressures on the supply chain, getting and keeping drivers has been a real challenge industrywide. We also see the impacts of the current supply chain crunch in how highly issues like driver compensation, truck parking, infrastructure and driver detention ranked on the list.”