Trucking firms boost recruiting as driver shortage looms

As head of a business that places drivers with trucking companies, Kevin D. Young is well-placed to gauge why there's a national shortfall of truck drivers entering the industry.

The prospect of days, even weeks, at a time away from home and the difficulties of gaining valuable experience can put the brakes on budding careers behind the wheel, he said.

Complicating matters is that many prospective job candidates who walk into the Best Drivers of South Carolina office, which Young runs on Ashley Phosphate Road, have less than stellar driving records. Insurers typically want long-haul trucking firms to hire drivers who can show clean records for the previous 10 years.

"So that eliminates a lot of people right off the bat," Young said.

The nation's trucking industry — and by extension, other facets of the U.S. economy — is staring down an employment crisis. The American Trucking Association, which estimated that 1.3 million long-haul truck drivers now work in the United States, puts the shortfall at about 20,000.

The group's projections show that figure will increase to more than 110,000 by 2014.

The industry could face an uphill battle to replace a fleet of aging drivers who soon will retire much faster than new drivers step up to take their place, experts say.

One hindrance is that the economics of the business are not as attractive as they once were for independent drivers who run their own rigs. The profit margins for "owner-operators" have been squeezed by rising fuel prices and other costs.

Also, trucking can be a lonely and stressful lifestyle, said Rick Todd, president of the S.C. Trucking Association. A lot of time is spent sitting in traffic or waiting to load and unload cargo.

As a result, many potential drivers have abandoned trucking in favor of better-paying jobs, such as construction and other professions that do not keep them away from home. The problem has affected small and large trucking companies alike, he said.

"You've got to be wired the right way," Todd said. "You have to be able to handle it."

Driving force

Truckers play a key, if underappreciated, role in the economy, hauling about 80 percent of all goods in the United States. Without them, store shelves would be empty, production would bottleneck at seaports and factories, and costs would increase.

But over the next decade, economic growth alone will demand a 2.2 percent average annual increase in the number of long-haul, heavy-duty truck drivers. That works out to an additional 320,000 jobs overall, according to ATA estimates.

Over the same period, at least another 219,000 new drivers will be needed to replace retirees and offset attrition among younger drivers. This means the industry will need to increase its ranks by 54,000 new drivers a year.

To help further its cause, the ATA this year launched a national truck driver recruitment campaign, Gettrucking.com, to promote positive images of the occupation and boost recruitment of long-haul drivers.

The campaign focuses on previously untapped labor pools, most notably ex-service members, minorities, women and workers who have lost their jobs because of downsizing or outsourcing.

With the slogan, "My office has a better view than yours," the ATA also is targeting newcomers to the work force, as well as people over 50 who may want to trade in a desk job for a career on the open road.

For those who do grab the wheel, the job has its share of rewards, industry advocates say.

Efficient and experienced drivers with clean records can earn $50,000 to $70,000 a year, Todd said. Entry-level drivers can expect starting salaries of around $35,000.

But when stacked up against, say, the construction industry, the trucker's lifestyle and wages don't always add up. The industry measures its wages against the construction business because people who consider truck driving often are the same ones who are drawn to the building trades.

The pay gap between the two industries has been closing. In 2001, the average pay for truckers was 9 percent below construction earnings, but it improved to about 1 percent less in 2004, the ATA said. As of two years ago, according to the most recent available figures, the average weekly trucker's pay was $725, or about $11 less than for construction workers.

Making wages more competitive with other professions is critical to solving the driver shortage, the ATA said.

Training wheels

At the same time, the industry also is caught in a classic Catch-22. Trucking and insurance companies prefer drivers with at least two or three years of experience, said Brian Groves, head of driver recruitment for Bridge Terminal Transport in Mount Pleasant. That means industry rookies have trouble finding work, he said.

The good news is that interest in training programs offered through local technical colleges is picking up speed among would-be truck drivers.

Just last week, Trident Technical College in North Charleston said it will offer a commercial driver's license course beginning June 4. The 160-hour program will be held at the main campus on Rivers Avenue and is being introduced "to help meet the Lowcountry's tremendous demand for licensed truck drivers," said Steve Price of Trident Tech's division of continuing education and economic development.

Meanwhile, similar classes at Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College in the Midlands "are maxed out," said Rebecca Battle-Bryant, dean of career training and development.

The $2,500, five-week course (or 10 weeks for the night version) has students lining up to register, Battle-Bryant said. During the school year that ended last June, 110 students completed the program, which allows them to get out of the classroom and learn hands-on behind the wheel, she said.

Drivers are put through their paces at night, during inclement weather and on back roads and highways. They're also told to have no illusions of the road ahead.

"We try to tell our students this is a hard life," Battle-Bryant said.

For Scott Cincotta, 39, it's a chance of a lifetime.

The former engine mechanic from Summerville quit his job and enrolled in the Orangeburg Tech training program. He wants to provide a better life for his family, he said, and sees a career as a trucker as the way forward.

"You can make a lot of money doing this," he said.

He was the first in his class to take his CDL test last Monday — and he passed the first time.

He also already has a job waiting after graduation, with the hope that the view from the cab will be better than the one he had under the hood.

Reach Peter Hull at 937-5594 or phull@postandcourier.com.