In a 2014 survey by National Retail Systems, Inc. (NRS),based in Hard to Believe: Truck Drivers Change Jobs for Pay., thousands of Commercial Drivers License (CDL) holders were polled nationwide to determine what makes a driver choose one job over another. Here is a portion of those results:
As a truck driver what most attracts you to a job?
(Please select up to 3).
- Salary 79%
- Home Time 67%
- Benefits 52%
- New Equipment 47%
- Location 36%
- Type of run 32%
- Company Reputation 31%
- Sign-on bonus 13%
- Training 11%
- Other 4%
- Not Sure 2%
What were the top reasons for you leaving your last job?
(Please select up to 3).
- Salary 43%
- Home Time 28%
- Equipment 22%
- Retirement 22%
- Benefits 21%
- Other 21%
- Type of run 17%
- Lay-off 16%
- Company Reputation 14%
- Location 9%
- Health Reasons 7%
- Training 2%
How many driving jobs have you had in the last 10 years? *
- 1-2 47%
- 3-5 41%
- 6-8 5%
- 9+7%
While drivers are looking for better take home pay, the Bureau of Labor Statistics is reporting that pay for commercial drivers has dropped 6%between 2003 and 2013. The Bureau also expects that employment of truck drivers to remain strong and to grow by 192,600 jobs between 2012 and 2022.
At the same time that drivers are looking for increased paychecks, the trucking industry indicates there is a shortage of drivers. According to the Arlington VA based American Trucking Associations (ATA) press release dated October 22, 2013: “The industry needs to find an average of roughly 96,000 new drivers annually to keep pace with demand. If freight demand grows as it is projected to, the driver shortage could balloon to nearly 240,000 drivers by 2022, according to ATA data.”
It is logical that if pay for what you do is dropping, you may change jobs or careers. It seems that carriers are going to have to increase paychecks to attract and retain drivers.