The show of hands was nearly unanimous.
The setting was “State of the Union,” a transportation industry executive panel at the 2014 CSCMP Annual Global Conference. The gathering of some 3,000 supply chain professionals in San Antonio this week features an array specialized tracks and dozens of focused presentations and discussions.
The informal poll followed early comments by carrier representatives who emphasized how critical the driver situation has become.
“This industry has cried wolf, historically, on the shortage of drivers and capacity,” said Tommy Barnes, president of Con-way Multimodal. “In the past, it hasn’t materialized. But it’s materializing – it’s materialized. It’s here. We are short of drivers in a bad, bad way.”
How bad? Competing for workers in the booming oil and gas fields means that J.B. Hunt Transport has been unable to fill a driver job in West Texas that pays $83,000, COO Craig Harper explained.
“I’ve been hiring drivers for J.B. Hunt since 1997, and this is the toughest market that I have seen, bar none,” he said. “It’s a real challenge.”
