The U.S. truck driver shortage is getting worse, despite increases in driver pay and redoubled hiring and retention efforts by for-hire trucking companies, truckload driver turnover data released today by the American Trucking Associations indicate.
The driver turnover rate at large truckload companies has been stuck at 90 percent or higher since 2012, peaking at 106 percent in the second quarter of that year and falling 1 percent to 96 percent at the end of 2014. That’s still a 5 percent year-over-year increase.
The problem is likely to get worse before it gets better, which is bad news for shippers battling rising transportation costs and tightening capacity at many of their trucking suppliers.