Trucking wages to rise by 30 percent
Wed, 31 Aug 2011US shortfall in drivers will double in a year to 300,000
US trucking companies may face a massive 30 percent surge in wages by 2014 as rising demand for freight shipments threatens to push the industry’s driver shortage to the longest on record, according to freight transport analysis firm, FTR Associates.
The Nashville-based firm predicted that the current shortfall in drivers will double in a year to about 300,000 full-time positions, or 10 percent of the workforce.
Jeff Kauffman, a Sterne Agee & Leach analyst in New York who follows truck and railroad stocks confirmed: "The truck-driver population is growing at less than 1 percent a year. Freight’s growing at closer to 4 percent."
Drivers are in short supply even as joblessness exceeds 9 percent. Company-employed drivers, who don’t own their rigs, earn average salaries in the mid-$40,000 range, based on figures from the Owner-Operator Independent Driver Association. FTR’s Perry estimated a driver’s typical tenure at one year.
The Nashville-based firm predicted that the current shortfall in drivers will double in a year to about 300,000 full-time positions, or 10 percent of the workforce.
Jeff Kauffman, a Sterne Agee & Leach analyst in New York who follows truck and railroad stocks confirmed: "The truck-driver population is growing at less than 1 percent a year. Freight’s growing at closer to 4 percent."
Drivers are in short supply even as joblessness exceeds 9 percent. Company-employed drivers, who don’t own their rigs, earn average salaries in the mid-$40,000 range, based on figures from the Owner-Operator Independent Driver Association. FTR’s Perry estimated a driver’s typical tenure at one year.
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