Why is the turnover rate in the commercial truck industry so high when the nation continues to be plagued by high unemployment?

It’s because there are not enough professionally trained drivers to take the number of driving jobs currently available. Driving a commercial truck can be a great career, but for those with out training, it is a difficult line of work and those that enter without the right set of skills don’t last long.

The turnover rate for commercial truck drivers remained over 100 percent for the second straight month in November, reaching a five-year high for smaller truckload carriers, according to American Trucking Associations Trucking Activity Report. It was the first time since the first quarter of 2008 that the turnover rate has pierced the 100 percent barrier in consecutive months. The turnover rate continues to grow even though the demand for commercial truck drivers also continues to rise.

In response to the turnover rate announcement, American Trucking Associations Chief Economist Bob Costello said increasing competition for quality drivers and growth in demand for trucking services continues to put pressure on the driver market. Carriers are seeing a growth in orders but are challenged by the fact that not enough professionally trained drivers are available to help ship those new orders.

“These numbers continue to reflect a tight driver market, and an actual shortage for drivers,” Costello added in a Trucking Info article about the report. “We believe the industry is actually short between 20,000 and 25,000 drivers, but if freight volumes were to accelerate, I would expect that number to grow and grow rapidly.”

ATA estimates the current shortage of drivers to be in the 20,000 to 25,000 range in the for-hire truckload market. At the current trends, the shortage could balloon to as much as 239,000 by 2022.

The turnover rate actually indicates a high demand for truck drivers. But the demand is really for professionally trained drivers from a respected CDL program like the one at Diesel Driving Academy.

If you are looking for work or a change in careers, then the commercial truck industry might be the right fit for you. Truck carriers have more jobs than they do drivers to fill them and those with professional CDL training from a respect program like Diesel Driving Academy are finding many employment options when they complete the program.

Diesel Driving Academy is creating the next generation of commercial truck drivers and students are finding a new career as a professional truck driver in an industry that shows no signs of slowing down. As millions of Americans continue to look for work and economist search for answers to high unemployment, the commercial truck industry is doing its part to put Americans back to work in an industry that is vital to the national economy.