Equipment
Workforce

Solving the Truck Driver Shortage for Construction Materials

Taking the driver into consideration when purchasing a truck helps ensure buyers can attract and retain quality drivers that are essential to their business success.
By Eric Schwartz
August 31, 2021
Topics
Equipment
Workforce

The construction industry continues to face significant challenges of finding and keeping truck drivers. The commercial driver shortage has been a trending topic for years, but today’s most relevant challenges include:

  • Attracting new talent;
  • Competition;
  • Struggle for a work-life balance; and
  • Closing the skill gap.

Attracting new talent

Younger talent isn’t entering the profession at a high-enough rate to replace the aging, retiring driver workforce. The average age of drivers in the for-hire over-the-road truckload industry is 46, and other trucking sectors have an even higher average age.

Competition

There is always an issue of competition between trucking companies for drivers who are reliable and professional, as many drivers are often offered signing bonuses and wage increases to switch to a competing company. As many less-than-truckload and private carriers see drivers retire, these two groups attempt to recruit from the for-hire truckload labor pool. Although many younger workers are gravitating toward the logistics industry, they tend to choose warehousing over driving.

Struggle for a work-life balance

Although there has been a 3% year-over-year increase in short-haul freight since 2019, most freight opportunities remain long-haul. Long-haul drivers struggle with maintaining a healthy work-life balance, as they tend to be on the road for weeks at a time, not making it home to their families for healthy, home-cooked meals or showers that aren’t at rest areas. Many experienced drivers comment on their less-than-ideal or even absent social lives and sleep deprivation, as the pressure to deliver their freight to its destination as quickly as possible causes drivers to skip sleep breaks.

Another deterrent for the profession is the absence of healthy meal options on the road. It is quicker, easier and more accessible to grab fast-food. The nature of being a truck driver is the instability of sitting all day with few opportunities to exercise as often as recommended by health professionals. Couple with the lack of easy access to healthy food, many drivers experience weight gain and an overall unhealthy lifestyle.

Closing the skill gap

Many companies seek experienced candidates, but it takes time, training and money to obtain the required commercial driver’s license (CDL). Employers usually don’t want to hire drivers until they have at least six months of experience, so it can be difficult to get started in the profession.

Drivers are the backbone and ambassadors of every trucking company. Nothing moves without a driver to operate the truck, so having employees who know the operation of the company, look forward to going to work and are productive are essential to the success of every trucking business.

It can cost thousands of dollars to bring on new talent who can successfully complete the necessary training, certification and verification, so reduced turnover can cut down on costs. Long-haul drivers become ambassadors for companies and are often the familiar face that customers and contractors recognize and trust.

The problem of keeping drivers persists because it’s a simple supply and demand market condition. There is a high demand for drivers that is not being met by the supply of people willing to become drivers. Other industries are also competing for reliable, quality employees; and other trucking companies are competing by offering potential drivers persuasively better benefits to switch companies. Additionally, driving a truck is not always presented or perceived as a desirable job when, in fact, it has a lot of virtues; it’s a position that is consistently in high-demand and requires people who give great attention to detail and self-reliance.

The solution

Like a regular office, trucking companies should consider creating a comfortable working environment for drivers. The cab of the truck is where the drivers live and work for hours, days and weeks on end, so gaining new drivers and keeping them begins with offering a pleasant, safe environment.

Leading truck manufacturers should prioritize gaining an understanding of drivers’ needs for a better driving experience by consulting with industry experts and professional drivers.

Comfort is important as well: commercial and industrial construction industries should consider equipment with spacious cabs, dual airbag support and high visibility.

Most drivers have specific desires when it comes to their safety, comfort and happiness. They want to be able to easily get in and out of the cab, a wide-opening door that has LED lights to brightly illuminate the ground and steps, solid-grab handles and nonslip steps that make for easier three-point contact on both ingress and egress.

Wide, high-back seats and a cab with an airbag suspension supported outside the frame rails provide a superior ride on the harshest off-road or railroad track conditions. The ease of access into the cab and driver’s seat is a specific area of focus so that the shorter drivers as well as larger drivers can attain a comfortable seating position.
Drivers want an interior and dashboard that looks like the heavy-duty truck they’re driving, with easy-to-read, large gauges, switches within reach and the best visibility possible to ensure safety, ultimately preventing dangerous accidents before they happen.

Telematics allow drivers to remain on the road rather than waiting for unanticipated maintenance, significantly increasing a truck’s uptime. Drivers want to be on the road and in their allocated truck. If any part of the truck is not performing optimally, drivers and fleet owners are alerted before danger can arise.

Fleet owners appreciate advanced telematics technology since repairs and tune-ups are implemented before problems grow more serious, offering major savings over the truck’s lifetime.

Considerations for buyers

The growth of a company directly correlates to the quantity and quality of the drivers they attract and retain. Drivers have an enormous responsibility to confirm daily that the truck is in optimal operating condition and to operate the truck in the safest way to ensure timely delivery of the payload and safe operation on their route.

Taking the driver into consideration when purchasing a truck helps ensure buyers can attract and retain quality drivers that are essential to their business success.

by Eric Schwartz
Eric Schwartz is the president of Autocar Industries, having joined the company in 2003 after working for various automotive and truck suppliers and with multiple vehicle OEMs. Schwartz now leads the company’s terminal tractor and specialty vehicle vocational businesses and is responsible for the Hagerstown, Ind., operation. Autocar, LLC, the only American-owned and operated original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of vocational trucks, proudly carries the brand of North America’s first specialized, severe-duty vocational truck.

Related stories

Equipment
Four Fleet-Management Tactics to Grow Business, Cut Costs and Boost Morale
By Christina Hartzler
A case-study of how Big-D Construction overhauled, modernized and digitized its fleet-management system.
Equipment
Four Fleet-Management Tactics to Grow Business, Cut Costs and Boost Morale
By Christina Hartzler
A case-study of how Big-D Construction overhauled, modernized and digitized its fleet-management system
Equipment
Sealing the Future: The Transformative Power of AWBs in Educational Infrastructure
By Benjamin Meyer, AIA, LEED AP
Air- and water-resistant barriers are the unsung heroes of modern construction—and vital to the health and wellbeing of any building.

Follow us




Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Stay in the know with the latest industry news, technology and our weekly features. Get early access to any CE events and webinars.