For years, trucking companies have been practically begging for qualified drivers. Now they are awash in applications.
The Wall Street Journal said:
Some companies say they are seeing a tripling or quadrupling of inquiries from types of people who have historically snubbed driving a truck. They include people laid off from hard-hit industries such as construction and auto-manufacturing. "I've never seen it like this in 24 years, I can tell you," said Herb Schmidt, president of Con-Way Truckload, the San Mateo, Calif., company's long-haul division.
You might check with local trucking schools, which used to be able to practically promise their graduates a good job. The
Journal story continued:
Thanks to the jump in applicants and drop in capacity, the turnover rate for the nation's large long-haul carriers has dropped to roughly 65 percent, according to Bob Costello, chief economist for the American Trucking Associations. By comparison, the turnover rate in 2005 was 130 percent, he said. The rate has dropped in part because fewer jobs means less "churning" -- drivers hopping from one company to another.
Trucking companies say they now have the luxury of becoming more selective in hiring and retaining employees. Gordon Trucking Inc. reduced its spending on advertising to recruit applicants by 75 percent last year, but weekly applications still tripled by the end of the year. The company has "become much less tolerant of some of the things that previously we may have overlooked, like idling the truck or taking an extra day off at home," Steve Gordon, chief operating officer of the Pacific, Wash., company, said in an email.
