Trucking jobs forecast improves

The trucking industry appears to be literally and figuratively on the move when it comes to hiring.

According to the State of Logistics Report released in June by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, there is a significant truck driver shortage in the U.S. that would only increase if the economy improves. The report said there are currently 100,000 driving jobs available nationwide, and many are predicting that shortage could be as high as 300,000 by 2014.

Overall employment of truck drivers and driver/sales workers is expected to grow 9 percent between 2008 and 2018, creating more than 290,000 jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The improved forecast prompted Vatterott College to start its truck-driver training program in July. Rebecca Matney, Springfield campus director, said the school is always looking for ways to provide needed training for its students, and the numbers released by the BLS in 2008 were too good to ignore.

“We have several students that already have been hired by trucking companies,” she said, adding the school offers assistance to students at its career services department.

She said 26 students have been enrolled in the program, with 11 graduates and 11 currently in the program, and two students waiting to start classes. Of the graduates, she said nine already have passed their commercial driver license testing, while the other two have yet to take the test.

The school is the second in Springfield to add such a program in the last four years. Ozarks Technical Community College started its CDL training program in April 2007.

Rosalyn Wilson, author of the State of Logistics Report for the supply chain group, said several factors influenced the most recent forecast.

New federal safety regulations that require trucking companies to make safety scores available to their clients have carriers letting go of unsafe drivers, she said.

“Shippers have caught on quickly with the carriers’ safety scores because there were a couple of incidents in which there were accidents and the plaintiffs went after not the carrier, but the carrier and the shipper, saying that the shipper had the ability to judge the safety worthiness of the carrier they used. Shippers are now looking for carriers with higher scores,” Wilson said.  

Also, she said more drivers are retiring than companies are hiring. “Younger workers tend to want that quality of life. They want to be at dinner. They want to be able to go to that soccer game, and typically a truck driver’s job doesn’t allow for that,” Wilson said.

To adjust, she said more carriers are using intermodal options such as rail for long hauls to allow their drivers to handle more regional routes.

A report Wilson authored in 2010 estimated that the trucking industry would need to hire up to 400,000 people by the end of 2011, but she said that forecast predicted faster economic growth.

Tom Crawford, president of the Missouri Trucking Association, said he believes companies are in hiring mode, though he declined to estimate how many jobs he thought were currently available in the state.

“I just concluded a board meeting and had a number of companies from around the state and several from Springfield (represented) at the table, and universally they were very positive about the number of jobs available. They said they were adding jobs and adding drivers,” Crawford said, noting some officials had expressed they had hoped to be hiring more by now.

To start the program at Vatterott, Matney said the school invested in four tractor-trailers and a dump truck, as well as a driving range on West Republic Road. She declined to disclose the expenses in starting the program. Three staff instructors teach the five-week course that has students in the classroom for the first two weeks and behind the wheel practicing the last three weeks.

Doug Akers, program director of OTC’s Transportation Training Institute, said the college has graduated an average of more than 50 students from its program in its first four years. OTC also has a five-week training schedule for students.

He said the school purchased a simulator in October 2010 for students, which helps them to get experience with shifting before getting them out on the road. The company partners with a number of local companies – such as Steelman Transportation, TCSI Transland Inc. and Peterbilt – for donated equipment. The college conducts its training at the Price Cutter Park parking lot in Ozark.

“We have relationships with carriers throughout the Midwest, carriers such as Prime, Snyder, Trailiner … and they hire our students,” Akers said. “It takes a commitment from the carrier to do that because they have to be willing to finish the training. When our students leave, they ... understand the basics, but then (companies) will put them with experienced drivers anywhere from eight weeks to three months to expand their understanding of how to drive that truck.”

He said a number of students have signed on with local companies after graduating from the course, and with estimates for job growth during the next three years, he believes good students shouldn’t have any problems finding jobs.

Crawford said, in Missouri, 85 percent of the communities are served exclusively by trucks, which means as the economy rebounds, the need for carriers will increase.

“I would put us at slightly lower than the best of the best of times. We’re not all the way back yet,” Crawford said.[[In-content Ad]]