The truck driver shortage is a critical issue affecting the entire supply chain. The United States alone is short more than 80,000 drivers, a number projected to double in the coming years. This isn't just a minor inconvenience; it's a fundamental challenge to how freight moves across the country.
Financial and operational challenges
The talent gap creates a domino effect of financial and operational pressures. Freight is waiting longer to be transported, leading to delays and missed deadlines. In response, companies are seeing rising costs, particularly in labor, as they try to attract and retain a limited pool of talent. The convergence of historically high turnover, veteran drivers aging out and surging e-commerce demand has created a perfect storm that shows no sign of clearing in the near future.
The impact ripples far beyond late deliveries. For supply chain organizations, it damages established relationships with customers and makes it difficult to attract new business. Internally, human resources departments face increased workloads and higher spending on recruitment, especially for companies that offer costly subsidized training programs.
The talent gap also creates a cascade of safety and risk management issues that can have severe consequences. Companies may be forced to rush new drivers into roles, sometimes before they've fully mastered the job's complexities and safety protocols. This can lead to a higher rate of accidents and on-the-road infractions. Additionally, the pressure to keep up with freight demand can lead to driver fatigue and skipped maintenance checks, creating a cycle of risk.
5 ways to tackle the truck driver shortage
To stay competitive and build resilience, transportation and logistics companies must urgently address these challenges. The following proven strategies can help address many issues associated with the trucking industry driver shortage:
1. At a high level, transportation companies need to consider many factors when recruiting new drivers, as interests, preferences, priorities and needs vary quite a bit from previous generations. As older drivers exit the workforce, the methods that attracted them may no longer be effective. While pay is always a significant factor, it’s far from the only thing that can convince a newly trained driver — or an untrained person interested in learning the trade — to commit to working for the company.
2. Work-life balance is a very important consideration, particularly for young professionals, so offering positions with a significant amount of time at home will help ease the burden of forever being on the road.
3. Adjusting the amenities and perks offered to drivers is another proven strategy. While it may seem minor, a change from in-cab satellite TV to streaming services such as Netflix or Hulu on tablets and mobile Wi-Fi can enhance the appeal.
4. Data analytics platforms and tools can transform hiring, just as they’ve created significant improvements for everything from operational efficiency to customer engagement. Identifying, quantifying and analyzing the campaign that attracted a driver — as well as their progress, performance and risk factors — can provide valuable insights into which efforts are working. Earlier upstream data analysis can improve retention, utilization, risk and efficiency. Data analytics also allow companies to derive an optimal cost-per-mile metric that finds the sweet spot between driver compensation and other cost drivers.
5. Search engine optimization is another factor to consider. Tracking metrics such as click-through rate, hit rates on job boards and conversions can help businesses develop a better understanding of where high-value recruits come from. Moreover, predictive analytics can shed light on how to identify prospects by leveraging valuable investment dollars to ensure the best return on investment.
Transportation and logistics companies that have the solutions in place to identify strong driver prospects enjoy a variety of benefits. These include better conversion rates, healthier company cultures, longer driver tenures and achievement of key financial metrics. In terms of financial metrics, effective recruitment identifies safer and more reliable drivers, which limits costs tied to insurance-based claims and mitigates damaging litigation. Business leaders must recognize the seriousness of the situation and make creative adjustments that allow them to be more competitive and successful in their recruitment and retention efforts.
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Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect current topics and trends. The original publish date was October 2021.
