Truck driver shortage- Read this!
 

Here is a good article on the truck driver shortage. The reasons are shockingly similar to what's happening in the regional airlines. The trucking industry has a solution ;), give it a read!

News for August 4th, 2014 | Airline Pilot Info

That's not similar at all!

If you start your career as a CDL Driver, at first you will make peanuts, SWIFT transportation pays for your CDL, but with a two year contract, they will train you, get your CDL A. ( $5,000 worth of training) you will be making peanuts kind of the same thing whats going on on the Regionals right now.

its just the same as where do you want to go after you have your CDL, they are good paying companies just like Regional Airlines.

it all comes to $$$$ no difference.

I probably should have said the situation is similar not the reasons for it. But still it goes to show companies are raising pay to combat the 'truck driver shortage'.

Without even reading the article or knowing anything about the trucking industry I can guess that like aviation they have driven wages down to the point that nobody wants to do it anymore. Just be glad you work in one of the few unionized industries left in 'murica.

This.

When everyone wants to be in business management or engineering, there is still labor to be done, and you need laborers to do it. When you treat them like crap, they study to be in business management or engineering.

Then everyone's all surprised when they don't have a steady stream of trained laborers.

I think it's funny how many Business Management students there are. Not everyone can be a corporate executive or even manager.

They would rather be dishing the crap out then receiving it.

i just drove thru texas and saw alot of driving job offers and were paying 28 dollars an hour (so advertised) just think , 3 weeks of school, $4000 for training and you can make 60k a year ! aviation= 80k for school, 3 years of training/time building and make 18k a year.:mad:

From speaking with a few truck drivers in passing, and reading articles, I believe most truckers don't make $60k. It's more in like with $40-55k usually. They have just as many rest rules as we do (and a recent rule change too if I recall)

Also a friend in the trucking industry does brokering of some sort and it's surprisingly similar how "fee for departure" based the trucking industry is.

Problem solved, go be a truck driver.

LOL or GREYHOUND! :D

https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hpho...83476337_n.jpg

Please read the comments on the article. Hahaha, it looks like APC shenanigans in the comment section

Whatever happened to the provision in NAFTA that allowed Canadian and Mexican truck drivers to drive in the US? Was that implemented? If not, I fear the "shortage" of American drivers will give rise to a call for allowing imported truck drivers.

The only things unions do anymore is make more money for non-union employees, judging by the low wages in the regionals they haven't done much have they?

Thought I'd chime in on this as I actually am a long haul truck driver.

I flew a lot in high school and after entering college and discovering the facts on the actual state of the industry, I chose a different path.

I don't encourage or discourage people to fly anymore. It's a total commitment to the dream and the chances of it paying off change depending on who you're talking to.

I still fly on occasion and really enjoy it. I started long haul truck driving the beginning of 2013 and after a year of solid experience and a safe record I changed companies and am slated to gross just under 70k this year.

I'm not saying this to gloat or anything it's just a choice I made. The difference I believe in flying and trucking compensation-wise is that 70 is probably the most I'll ever make. I think you can do much better in the long run with flying if you keep your nose clean, even though the immediate pay is so terrible.

I'm in my early twenties and single and have invested in an acreage and will be building a home soon. I had to choose to either chase the dream or start investing in my future a little differently.

Like I said, I neither encourage nor discourage others to do the same but I would be happy to answer questions about the industry. YMMV

-M

Also just for fun I thought I'd mention I worked with a guy at my last company who was the CP on the 73 for CO for awhile I believe. Great dude. He retired from CO and decided he wanted to try long haul trucking. An interesting transition in your mid 60's that's for sure.

I drove a truck once. It is horrible. Probably the worst job out there.
You can get to a drop off point on a Friday after noon. .. Shop closes before you can unload... Guess what? You sit there all weekend just to unload on Monday FOR FREE!. You only get paid when you roll. I didn't make crap for money because they want to keep the lifers happier and give you the shorter haul loads that don't pay as much. Doesn't surprise me they can't find people. I was 2 weeks on then 3 days off. Sucked balls.

Sounds familiar but there's definitely better gigs than that. It's just that you have to get through the crappy time as a new guy. I had to switch jobs to get away from that type of environment but I'm paid by the hour now and a lot of smaller reputable companies are going to that system. Keeps guys happy and making money the whole time.

That's definitely a valid gripe and working for any of the BIG companies, that's what you'll see. This job can either be absolutely awful or pretty darn cool. Not a lot of in between, at least in my experience.

Big difference regarding the article is the trucking industry realizes they have to raise wages. I have not heard of any regionals raising wages to combat hiring shortages. And a sign-on bonus is not a pay raise.

CommutAir raised their pay earlier this year, as well as throwing in some paid hotels for commuters.

At Horizon, premium pay has gone from 150% to 200%, and stayed there.

i have thought of that juice, i will have to if i cant find an aviation job, but no way i'd consider greyhound, no matter what they paid me

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Gosh, if only there was some way to tell the Regional Airline Association and Congress about this crazy plan the trucking industry has. Who would have thought that forcing concessions on your labor group would hurt your labor prospects? Apparently not the geniuses of airline management.

Its official; the trucking industry has more brain power at the top than the airlines do.... well, at least the regionals. I didn't see trucking managment moan at length about repealing laws. They saw a labor shortage impact their bottom line-and they enacted measures to attract labor. Is there any way this industry can poach some of these trucking management folks?

You guys need to do some research with real truckers before making any career changes. Trucking is HARD work, doesn't pay all that well, either. A friend does a 4 and 1/2 days trip out of the SE to LA every week. You sleep in the sleeper get a shower once a day, maybe, and spend time waiting to load without pay. Turnover is high and driver shortages have existed for decades with small pay raises when the problem becomes unmanageable.

Think again.

GF

What GF just said. Anyone who thinks trucking is for them needs to spend the day at a busy truck stop in the deep south.

You all need to quit your whining, the regional flying gig isn't bad. BTW, I make 6 figures on 14th year CA pay at a regional, with 14+ days off a month.

Nobody here is suggesting leaving the regional for a truck job. Where you getting that? The point of the thread is to compare regional airlines pilot shortage with trucking companies driver shortage and how there are very close similarities as to what is creating the shortage.

Agreed. However; <$30,000/yr to start is a bad gig.

I do 4 day trips most weeks...

I get a shower once a day at a questionable hotel.

And I definitely do this one all the time.

Only one shower a day, I don't know how people live like that.

I don't know if it's just me, but there seem to be more and more stickers on the back of truck trailers saying "Our drivers make $0.XX / mile!" Never used to see that. (Of course, possibly just a cover for the wait-to-load-for-free gigs)

Also saw a billboard the other day for some trucking company advertising "Honey, I'm home weekends!"

The airline industry might take a hint from these guys.

Ha.......maybe underneath the "Operated By xxx Regional Airline" they could paint "We're Hiring!!! Come be a Pilot!!!" on the fuselage

You're wrong, Galaxy Flyer. What some of these kids desperately need is to quit in indignation and go off to find their fortune in trucking and running 7-11s where they think it's all easy money and chicks for free. When they realize what a great thing they had they won't be so insufferable when they return.

Slightly ironic that the ad underneath this thread was for PAM trucking. $40k/year with paid CDL training.

I think I'll stick to flying airplanes!

pete2800,

At least, the questionable hotel isn't moving at 60mph driven my some new truck driver.

GF

I was an owner-operator from 1996-2004. I owned 3 trucks, driving, doing the books, brokering, maintenance...everything. I started out with North American Van Lines moving people. It's HARD sweaty tiring work. I worked 14-16 hours a day 7 days a week....for 8 years. Keeping drivers in your trucks is easier said than done and many times I had a truck sitting idle loosing money. Over the 8 years I drove 1,000,000 miles. I lost money the first year, broke even the next and then started netting a decent income. My best year was 2003 when I netted $168,000. If you think Regional flying is hard you have NO idea about reality. Trucking is a cutthroat industry that chews up and spits you out. I entered the business as a way to save money for my ratings and save enough to live on while I was at the Regional's. I did this in my late 20's and early 30's...it was doable....I couldn't IMAGINE working that pace into my 50's and 60's. I can fly an airplane until 65 and still have 1/2 the month off, I'm never gone from home longer than 3 nights and then I'm in a nice hotel. When I was driving I was on the road 6 weeks at a time, sleeping in my truck. I figured it would take me 13 years to break even financially to make the transition to flying. I got VERY lucky...it took 12. I've never looked back.

How many truck drivers would you estimate are self employed like you were vs. those that actually are employees of a company?

I think we are getting off track here. No one said they would rather drive trucks than airplanes. Also, the level of cost, training, skill intelligence and responsibility of being a commercial airline pilot in 121 does not compare to driving a truck. You know what else is hard work? Farming and digging ditches. The point is not to compare the jobs, but to compare and contrast what the industries are doing to attract employees.

I've been working since I was 13 and I had another career before aviation. I STILL think the job of regional pilot is ridiculously underpaid for what it entails. I think the regional airlines are wasteful and badly run. I think the whole US airline industry is sclerotic and needs a massive colonic.

+1, Great post. However, if you are coming from a business point of view any place that can get employees to invest $60-100K of their own money in training, and then accept $14K year salary is a good damn model.

This is precisely why I think the regionals are badly run. The whole model hinges on one thing: doing it cheaper than the other guy. They all knew there was a point where cost cutting wouldn't work any more. They allowed the major airlines to dictate the terms of terrible contracts and relied on labor cost cuts to keep the model going. Even in the face of the Pinnacle and Colgan crashes, the RAA refused to police itself.

Not sure, have to scour the DOT figures to come up with an answer. Off the top of my head, I'd guess maybe 10-15%. And of those maybe 10% are operating under their own ICC authority. That is a WHOLE lot more work for not too much more $$. I'd guess that the vast majority of truck drivers are working 25 days a month (gone from home, 12-14 hour days, sitting at docks, sleeping in the truck)....for probably on average around $40-50K. Any RJ job in the country is better than driving truck for 30 years. The past decade has been an anomaly, the 2-3 yr upgrade will return and 5-6yrs total at a Regional before making the jump to a major will return as the norm.

A good gauge for comparing careers: Ask ANY former trucker who's become an Airline pilot.....would you switch back?

Not only NO, but HE!! NO!

Most of you guys have no idea what your talking about! I've had trucks for years and my friends are small business owners of trucks and one guy runs about ten. All day trips! I never once stayed away when I drove. Mind you very early starts, usually 3am. You make good money. Typical driver can make well over 100K a year. Over the road is a whole different animal. Takes a special kinda person, its deff not for everyone. But one thing to remember they break and break big time...your more likely able to make money if your mechanically inclined... Smelling like diesel on your days off sucks!