The American Trucking Associations has released a paper concluding that the driver shortage the industry is experiencing now — about a 20,000- to 25,000-person shortage — could jump to as high as 239,000 in just 10 years, with the bulk of them coming in the long-haul, truckload sector.
The paper points to growth in the industry and federal regulations — namely, the implementation of hours-of-service regulations in 2013, FMCSA’s CSA program — as two points that will drive the shortage to its peak. ATA economist Bob Costello says that the industry will need to hire about 100,000 new drivers every year “to keep up with demand for drivers, with nearly two-thirds of the need coming from industry growth and retirements.”
