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Truck driver shortage could impact gas prices

Industry expects higher fuel demand to maintain throughout the year

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As warmer weather arrives and COVID-19 restrictions are loosening, people are expected to hit the road for summer vacations. However, a shortage of tanker truck drivers to deliver gas to stations could cause supply and pricing issues, industry experts say.

“Everybody’s looking for drivers,” said Tom Crawford, president and CEO of the Missouri Trucking Association. “I don’t know that our story on that has changed for the last seven or eight years for sure.”

The U.S. trucking industry will need to hire roughly 1.1 million new drivers over the next 10 years – an average of 110,000 per year – to offset demand, according to the American Trucking Associations.

“Gas pricing has highlighted a segment of the driver shortage, but it’s not confined to the segment,” Crawford said, noting that includes flat bed and tanker drivers.

As the unofficial start of summer kicked off with the Memorial Day weekend, demand for gas is only expected to grow throughout the season, officials say. It’s in stark contrast to last year at this time when people were staying close to home amid the pandemic.

Price issues
Gas prices have increased dramatically from a year prior. According to AAA, the national gas price average reached $3.06, as of June 9. That’s up 50% from a year ago. Prices statewide and in the Springfield area both are lower than the national average, at $2.75 and $2.83, respectively, but have still risen considerably.

Eric Wilmoth, vice president of Mount Vernon-based trucking company Ozarks Petroleum Transport Inc., said the gas price increase from last year is no surprise. However, it’s more than he anticipated.

“If you asked me a year ago, I’d say we’ll be just above the $2 [per gallon] range,” he said. “I wouldn’t have expected it to be nearing the $3 range.”

Despite the pandemic, growth continued last year for the Wilmoth family of nine companies, which includes Ozark Mountain Energy Inc. and TravelCenters of the Ozarks Inc. They combined last year for roughly $1.6 billion in revenue – a nearly 7% increase from 2019, Wilmoth said. The companies were acquired in December 2020 by Denver, Colorado-based Offen Petroleum, he said, adding Petroleum Express Inc. changed its name to Ozarks Petroleum Transport after the deal closed.

The shortage of tanker truck drivers could cause some stations to run out of gas this summer, Wilmoth said. The company employs 42 drivers, he said, consistent with last year.

While Wilmoth is unaware of fuel delivery issues hitting the Springfield area yet, he expects it could happen.

“We’re delivering product just to keep stores with gas all over the place,” he said, noting some of the company’s trucks are being sent to metropolitan areas such as Little Rock, Arkansas, and Nashville, Tennessee, for two to four weeks at a time to help undisclosed customers.

The driver shortage already is putting pressure on gas prices, Wilmoth said.

“The consumer is seeing the effects of it,” he said. “The retailers are having to pay more to get their gas delivered. In Nashville, we may be having to bring product from Springfield. There’s a lot of costs in doing that to haul a load 450 miles one way.”

Drivers needed
Wilmoth said while Ozarks Petroleum was fortunate to maintain its drivers during the pandemic and avoided furloughs, the company needs more.

“Tanker drivers, we could definitely add another 20% to our driver force to become fully staffed right now,” he said. “There’s definitely a shortage out there and it’s severe.”

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data show that employment of heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers is projected to grow at just 2% from 2019 to 2029, slower than the average for all occupations.

Crawford said the need for drivers consistently is high ranking in the Missouri Trucking Association’s survey of top issues facing the industry. The average age of drivers also ranks high, he said.

The average age of a driver in the for-hire over-the-road truckload industry is 46, according to an American Trucking Associations survey. In comparison, BLS data indicate the median age of the U.S. labor force was 41.9.

“You start to wonder what’s going to happen in 10 years,” Crawford said, noting he was surprised the survey number wasn’t higher.

Wilmoth said drivers for his company average 54 years old, with just three under the age of 40. Most have been with the company for at least 10 years, he said, adding the driver turnover rate is “virtually nothing.”

“It’s something we talk about every day trying to come up with creative solutions to try and hire and train younger drivers,” he said. “However, we try to not be training drivers because it’s such an extensive process. With the wages we pay, we’re able to hire a trained driver.”

Wilmoth said it typically takes six to eight weeks to train someone to haul petroleum products. Ozarks Petroleum drivers generally make $90,000-$110,000, he said, noting the work is very hands-on and detail-oriented.

“We pay our drivers on the top end just to alleviate as many driver retention issues as possible,” he said.

The median annual wage for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers was $47,130 in May 2020, according to BLS data.

Even though the issue has been ongoing for years, Crawford said the industry’s driver shortage remains a problem in search of a long-term solution.

“That’s the golden ticket, the silver bullet, whatever you want to call it,” he said.

“That’s what we’re all looking for right now.”

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