A truck driver scarcity is contributing to ongoing provide chain points within the U.S. — and making the considered driverless vehicles much more interesting to firms.

Based on an October estimate by the American Trucking Associations, the U.S. is brief an all-time excessive 80,000 drivers, a consider backups at ports and warehouses determined to maneuver merchandise across the nation sooner. Given the growing old work pressure and anticipated freight progress, the hole may rise to greater than 160,000 drivers by 2030, the affiliation stated.

Kenny Vieth, president of ACT Analysis in Columbus, Ind., stated the common truck driver within the U.S. is about 55 years outdated and that the rising age of drivers has been one of many main elements resulting in the present scarcity.

On the similar time, he famous that driver wages haven’t saved up with inflation during the last a number of many years, making the job much less interesting to many potential employees. He stated driver jobs paid about 4 instances greater than the common full-time service-sector job in 1980, the yr President Jimmy Carter signed the Motor Service Act, which deregulated the trucking business.

Truck driving jobs pay about twice as a lot as the common service-sector job immediately, Vieth stated.

“Driving is a tough, bodily job the place you are separated for giant hours,” he stated, including that due to the decreased advantages relative to inflation, many employees would moderately “simply keep dwelling and work at Lowe’s and see their youngsters develop up and spend time with household as an alternative of working a tough job in all climate circumstances.”

The present scarcity has led some firms to supply a lot greater pay for drivers. Roehl Transport, as an illustration, provided two pay will increase to drivers throughout the first 4 months of the yr, which it stated would add as much as $6,000 to a driver’s annual wage.

The common truck driver made $47,130 per yr in 2020, in line with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Whereas rising wages may assist to draw extra drivers to the career, the hole may nonetheless show troublesome to fill because the inhabitants ages. That is why so many firms, from Waymo to Walmart, are all in favour of autonomous trucking.

“It is as a result of, proper now, it’s so troublesome to search out drivers,” Vieth stated.

However whereas firms are desperate to get their applied sciences on the roadway, the Teamsters union, which represents hundreds of U.S. truck drivers, is urging them to decelerate. Kara Deniz, a spokeswoman for the Teamsters, stated that whereas the union “will not be opposed” to know-how that “enhances the security and the roles” of its members, way more will have to be performed to show that the know-how is protected and that it’s going to not end in mass job losses for drivers.

“That is a hurdle to get previous as a result of survey after survey has discovered with the general public that there is a discomfort and a worry of being on the street with an automatic truck,” she stated. “There’s that impediment for them to recover from.”

She stated the union believes the know-how ought to as an alternative be utilized in a manner that might improve the standard of driving jobs, which might assist to draw extra employees to the career.

“We consider {that a} expert, educated driver continues to be crucial to protected operations,” she stated.

As correct utilization will get sorted out, count on firms and authorities to search out methods to handle the scarcity. For instance, the infrastructure invoice President Joe Biden signed on Nov. 15 consists of the institution of an apprenticeship pilot program that might permit folks beneath age 21 to drive industrial automobiles beneath sure circumstances.