The trucking industry is driving at full capacity, and its business prospects can best be characterized by one word: growth.
To meet growing demand, the trucking industry added 3,900 jobs last October and 4,100 jobs the month prior. Year-end financials for the industry as a whole continue to look promising.
Less-than-truckload carriers are leading the charge. Old Dominion experienced a 20.6 percent revenue increase and added 868 employees in the third quarter of 2014.
At this point, 2015 shows no sign of slowing down. The American Trucking Associations projects truckload volume will grow 3.5 percent per year through 2019. To keep up the positive trajectory, the industry will continue to significantly increase capacity, sustaining its position as a leading job creator.
Still, there are substantial obstacles, chief among them the ongoing driver shortage. After years of cutting jobs during the recent recession, carriers must find qualified drivers to meet rising capacity — and fast.
There are approximately 30,000 currently unfilled trucking jobs nationwide — and that number will likely increase in 2015. At large truckload carriers, the annualized driver turnover rate remains above 90 percent. That means a carrier with 200 drivers would hire 180 drivers over the course of the year, sometimes filling the same driver seat multiple times, at a high cost.
Meanwhile, the less-than-truckload sector has been able to weather the shortage significantly better with an average 11 percent turnover. Why the difference? The LTL industry also pays an average of $10,000 more than the rest of the industry. And LTL drivers run shorter distances and are generally home the same or next day — providing drivers with a strong work/life balance.
Still, the LTL industry is not immune from the shortage — and we know there will be bumps in the road.
David Congdon, CEO and President, Old Dominion Freight Line