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Truck drivers wanted. Pay: $73,000.


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Have you ever been a truck driver?  I'm sure truck drivers have all kind of interesting stories to tell.  Well, if Gamblin' ain't working out here's something else to consider to make some extra cash...

America needs a lot more truck drivers.

There will be a shortage of nearly 50,000 truckers in the United States by the end of this year, according a new report by the American Trucking Association (ATA). That's up from a shortage of 30,000 drivers just two years ago, and 20,000 drivers a decade ago.

 

American businesses need truck drivers to move goods around. And not having enough of them affects daily deliveries of everything from essentials like food and gas to supermarkets and gas stations to online Amazon (AMZN, Tech30) orders to people's homes.

It's a job that cannot be shipped overseas and has the potential to drive the cost of goods higher and ultimately hurt the U.S. economy.

No wonder businesses are willing to pay up for it.

Trucker compensation has been going up 8% to 12% a year in recent years, according to Bob Costello, chief economist at the ATA. That's a lot higher than wages for the rest of Americans, which have barely budged recently.

The median annual wage for a trucker that works for a private fleet, such as a truck driver employed by Walmart, is $73,000, according to ATA.

The Labor Department pegs the median annual salary for all truck drivers at around $40,000.

But it isn't an easy job to fill.

There's 1.6 million truck drivers in America. Of those, about 750,000 are "for hire" truckers, meaning they work for a truck company that's hired by another company, such as a grocery chain, to deliver its product. These truckers are sometimes on the road for 10 days at a time before coming home, Costello says.

At a time when work-life balance issues such as paid leave and flexible schedules are gaining spotlight in the American economy, trucking companies are challenged to recruit and retain workers.

Add on an aging workforce and a lack of interest from young workers, and you've got a shortage.

The median age of truckers is 49, according to ATA. The median age for all American workers is about 42, according to Labor Department.

Costello admits that the industry is having the toughest time retaining young workers.

Trucking companies also have a tough time recruiting women, who have become a larger part of the workforce than in previous generations.

Women make up 47% of the total U.S. workforce, yet only 6% of all truck drivers are women, according data from the Labor Department and ATA.

To qualify, truckers have to be 21, they must a commercial trucking license and pass a background check and drug test. Those requirements haven't changed in years, experts say.

However, what's changed is that there are fewer people willing to be on the road for days at a time and put in the long hours that the truck-driving lifestyle demands.

"They're having a very difficult time being able to recruit or retain [young] drivers," says Charlie Young, vice president of Trucker Path, an app for the trucking industry.

 

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i like driving around the country, but doing it in a big rig is a different story... i can't imagine it's a lot of fun driving those suckers

 

although i like the thought of being away from mrs milwaukee for 10 days at a time

 

 

100% agree.  I love driving, can drive for hours.  We drove to California twice in the last year and a half.  Drove thru Colorado down thru Arizona and over one time when we had a trailer, was the worst thing ever only going 60 MPH and then adding in the hills where you putz along at 35/40.  Other time we drove thru Utah/Colorado and no trailer, same fucking thing, driving those hills truck was taking a beating.

 

I thought about truck driving when I was just getting out of high school, but looking into it for the area around me it was all just hauling shit 1 hour away for 4 trips a day.  Seemed boring to me.  Happy I never did the overnight/cross country shit, because a couple of "buddies" that do that, hate it and their bodies are broken down.  But then again, they make a good buck and They take some stuff for me and charge me half or 3/4 when taking stuff to other states along their route.

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100% agree.  I love driving, can drive for hours.  We drove to California twice in the last year and a half.  Drove thru Colorado down thru Arizona and over one time when we had a trailer, was the worst thing ever only going 60 MPH and then adding in the hills where you putz along at 35/40.  Other time we drove thru Utah/Colorado and no trailer, same fucking thing, driving those hills truck was taking a beating.

 

I thought about truck driving when I was just getting out of high school, but looking into it for the area around me it was all just hauling shit 1 hour away for 4 trips a day.  Seemed boring to me.  Happy I never did the overnight/cross country shit, because a couple of "buddies" that do that, hate it and their bodies are broken down.  But then again, they make a good buck and They take some stuff for me and charge me half or 3/4 when taking stuff to other states along their route.

 

driving through colorado/utah/new mexico/arizona is beautiful isn't it?

 

that vegas to denver drive was really fun

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driving through colorado/utah/new mexico/arizona is beautiful isn't it?

 

that vegas to denver drive was really fun

 

 

It's unfortunate that you have to drive 12 hours through Iowa/Nebraska til you get to Colorado.  When we went out in the Spring, we were up at Estes park area, then chose to drive straight south through Denver and once you get past Colorado Springs the scenary kinda sucks (but you can still sorta see mountains), but we took that route thinking it would be easier on the truck/trailer.  Some spots in Arizona was brutal with the elevation gains.  Best part was the wife was sleeping, and she says "las vegas" on the sign and asked if I wanted to stop, I tell her sure why not, she had no clue it was New Mexico.

 

But driving 70 thru the mountains/ski resorts then Utah down through Las vegas is quite nice. 

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I had a job delivering flowers in my youth. The truck had a sign on the back that said "how's my driving?" with a phone number to headquarters. People kept calling and bitching about my driving and I kept getting written up. Quit that shit job after a couple a months. If I were to drive again I would make dam sure there is no sign on the back where people can call and bitch about you.

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