We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
  • ::COVID-19 COVERAGE::
  • INDUSTRY PRESS ROOM
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • MEDIA FILE
  • Create Account
  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Free Newsletters
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC.
    • Podcast
    • Blogs
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Best Practices
      • Change Me
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Logistics Problem Solving
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Public Sector Logistics
      • Two Sides of the Logistics Coin
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2020
    • Upload Your Video
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC.
    • Podcast
    • Blogs
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Best Practices
      • Change Me
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Logistics Problem Solving
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Public Sector Logistics
      • Two Sides of the Logistics Coin
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2020
    • Upload Your Video
Home » Driver shortage persists but wage increases are tepid, carrier survey finds
newsworthy

Driver shortage persists but wage increases are tepid, carrier survey finds

July 11, 2012
Mark B. Solomon
No Comments

Concerns that a shortage of qualified truck drivers would lead to a significant increase in driver wages and, by extension, a substantial rise in freight rates might be overblown.

A second-quarter survey of carrier executives by Chattanooga, Tenn.-based consultancy Transport Capital Partners LLC found that while 93 percent of respondents expect driver wages to rise over the next 12 months, 71 percent expect the increases to be 5 percent or less. About 20 percent expect driver wages to climb between 6 and 10 percent. About 7 percent expect wages to remain unchanged, while the remaining 2 percent see compensation climbing above 10 percent by this time next year.

In the second quarter of 2011, about 65 percent expected a 1- to 5-percent rise in driver wages by the same period in 2012. About 22 percent expected a 6- to 10-percent hike by this time, according to the survey.

The numbers indicate that modest freight demand in a sluggish economy is giving shippers the leverage to hold the line on carrier rate increases, according to Lana R. Batts, a long-time trucking executive and a partner in TCP. As a result, carriers struggling to maintain profitable growth can't increase driver wages as much as they might like, even though they continue to confront a driver shortage that is growing more acute, she said.

Batts said relatively small increases in driver compensation is likely to accelerate driver turnover rates and deter new entrants from obtaining a commercial driver's license and getting behind the wheel. Another issue, she said, is that the recent uptick in U.S. residential construction activity is luring back labor that had left construction for trucking in the wake of the real-estate bust that began in 2007.

About 40 percent of the survey's respondents had annual revenue of more than $51 million.

Transportation Trucking
KEYWORDS Transport Capital Partners
  • Related Articles

    Driver shortage ranks as most critical industry issue, ATRI annual survey finds

    Truckers boosting rates but not capacity, survey finds

    HOS compliance cutting driver wages by as much as 5.6 percent, survey finds

Marksolomon
Mark Solomon joined DC VELOCITY as senior editor in August 2008, and was promoted to his current position on January 1, 2015. He has spent more than 30 years in the transportation, logistics and supply chain management fields as a journalist and public relations professional. From 1989 to 1994, he worked in Washington as a reporter for the Journal of Commerce, covering the aviation and trucking industries, the Department of Transportation, Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to that, he worked for Traffic World for seven years in a similar role. From 1994 to 2008, Mr. Solomon ran Media-Based Solutions, a public relations firm based in Atlanta. He graduated in 1978 with a B.A. in journalism from The American University in Washington, D.C.

Recent Articles by Mark Solomon

Coming together for road safety: interview with Joshua Girard

Off the rails

Freight rate spikes shaking up the C-suite

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Most Popular Articles

  • IBM survey says digitalization trends will sweep trucking industry by 2030

  • Gartner survey signals increased investment in resilience over the next two years

  • What Level of Automation is Right for Your Warehouse?

  • Truck driver hiring pool tightens to lowest point in three years, ACT says

  • Growing up … and up and up: interview with Sam Bertram

Now Playing on DCV-TV

D92f0dd1 a98c 434a 9e17 30b63ee72c90

Automated Pack-out and Print-Apply System for thredUP

DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
SilMan Industries designed and implemented a mixed polybag-carton system, including automated print and apply, in a new regional Fulfillment Center for thredUP, one of the world’s largest online resale platforms for women’s and kids’ apparel, shoes, and accessories.The Situation Secondhand clothing and online...

FEATURED WHITE PAPERS

  • Using innovation to manage peak seasonal demand

  • Time to rethink your lift truck power

  • Warehouse Management System Project Toolkit

  • Solving Talent Management Challenges Now and In the Future

View More

Subscribe to DC Velocity Magazine

GET YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • NEWSLETTERS
  • ADVERTISING
  • CUSTOMER CARE
  • CONTACT
  • ABOUT
  • STAFF
  • PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright ©2021. All Rights ReservedDesign, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing