Need a job? America has a giant shortage of truck drivers due to the aging of the workforce.
As a result, truck driving salaries are expected to increase 8% to 12% annually.
According to the website Money, a new report from the American Truckers Association (ATA), the industry needs to fill 48,000 jobs—and that shortage could go up to 175,000 by 2024 as drivers continue to retire and the demand for shipping and deliveries grows due to online retail.
The average salary of a private-fleet trucker is $73,000, with the industry-wide median beingound $40,000. But apparently those numbers haven’t been enticing enough to draw qualified applicants into the field.
Part of the problem, according to the ATA report, is the long hours and weeks away from home. to counteract that, the ATA is discussing increasing driver pay and increasing driver time at home. They have also considered recruiting veterans, attempting to lower the driving age from 21 to 18.