It’s likely you’ve heard more in the past year about truck drivers, chassis, and cargo shipping than ever before. The recent backlog in the supply chain has drawn everyone’s attention to the American trucking industry.

So how did we get here, and why is it continuing to be a problem?

The Motor Carrier Act of 1980 deregulated the trucking industry in an attempt to control vendor costs and product prices for consumers. This allowed companies to lower wages for drivers and structure how they paid employees.

Fast forward 40 years and you’ll find the current trucking situation is bleak. Although some would report there is a shortage in truck driver candidates, the truth is there is a retention problem, not a hiring problem!

Too many truckers

With industry leaders pushing the message that there is a truck driver shortage, more people are getting certified as commercial drivers, expecting a quality job awaits them upon completion. Instead, this has led to a competitive candidate environment, giving the trucking companies the upper hand to keep pay low and and continue unideal working conditions.

In fact, in California alone, there has been a significant uptick in the number of active Class A and Class B commercial driver’s licenses, bringing the total in California alone to 640,445.

However, trucking companies are caught in a catch-22 situation. If they were to offer better pay, they would need to increase the amount they charge vendors to continue to be profitable, which would just send vendors to organizations with lower costs.

Why is there a truck driver shortage?

While companies have plenty of qualified candidates to hire, the working conditions are causing many existing employees to quit, and newly hired employees are not staying very long.

With a shortage of chassis, drivers are having to wait for extended periods of time at the ports for loads, and with no pay. Companies typically pay by the mile, so wait time is not compensated. This wait time also leads to longer workdays, eating into time with family and friends. With working conditions like this, it’s no surprise that the trucking industry is seeing a 92% rate of turnover with drivers. This high turnover has led to the driver shortage crisis.

After assessing the number of drivers needed to meet the freight demand, the American Trucking Association predicts there will be a shortage of 80,000 truck drivers in 2021. If this trend continues, that number could surpass 160,000 by 2030.

New York’s Governor Kathy Hochul recently signed into law legislation to create the Young Adult Commercial Driver’s License, a Class A program for 18 to 20-year-olds with the goal of easing supply chain issues.

Retaining drivers will boost bottom line

At 92% turnover rate, trucking companies are spending abhorrent amounts of money on hiring and training, without seeing the ROI. This has a significant impact on their bottom line.

Trucking companies may feel like they’re swimming upstream when it comes to retaining drivers. Knowing where to start and what improvement will have the biggest impact is daunting. Giving workers a platform to provide anonymous feedback is the first step in figuring this out.

WorkStep RETAIN is a solution that allows companies to gather this feedback in real-time. Check-ins are delivered to employees at key milestones throughout their career journey, from start to end. Company leaders are then alerted to issues they can take immediate action on, and insights are provided to show trending concerns across the organization. This allows companies to make changes that will actually improve worker satisfaction and reduce turnover.