Why Are Truck Driving Companies Always Hiring?
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I used to drive truck- not OTR but local and be home everyday. Of course it was a Class B I had. I’d like to get back into it, but my life won’t allow me to be away from home for more than a day anyway. The money seems to be lousy for that type of work, at least starting out as a Class A driver w/no extra endorsements. Is the turn over rate really that high in this field?
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The turnover rate is indeed very high, especially among truck drivers in their first year of employment. A lot of people have no clue what they’re getting into when they sign up for trucking school. Recruiters lie, and even schools won’t be real honest about life on the road. It isn’t easy and not everybody can hack it…they think they can, until they try it.
Before the economy took a crap, turnover in the trucking industry was even more ridiculous. Companies hiring 200 people every week- anticipating an average of 5 of those employees to remain with the company for one full year. And that was OK with them. Some companies get a kickback from the government for hiring inexperienced drivers who just graduated from CDL school and providing “vocational advancement training” or some such garbage. Basically, just for hiring any CDL-waving rookie with a pulse, putting him with a trainer for 1 month (and with some companies, the “trainers” can have as little as 6 months driving experience)….they get a tax credit or a government subsidy for that person, regardless of whether or not he completes training. ALL they need to do is get you hired & on a truck for even one day, and they’ve already benefitted off of you.
These days, even the mega-companies have scaled back their hiring quite a bit. Many were on hiring freezes for a while, most have scaled back their hiring areas. They aren’t hiring as many people on such a regular basis, many are becoming more selective about who they’ll hire, etc.
Anyway- that being said….there really isn’t much available for a driver with no Class A experience to obtain a local job. You pretty much have to go OTR and get at least 2-3 years of road driving before you are eligible for a local job that pays well. Pay in trucking isn’t that great until you prove yourself & get that experience under you, regardless of whether you stay OTR or go local.
Unless you were willing to take a shot at getting on with UPS as a delivery driver- The only problem there is, you’ve got to work your way up from the bottom, before you can drive one of the brown trucks. Depending on your location, it can take years for you to even get the seniority needed to be in line for a delivery driver job. The pay and benefits are incredible, if you can make it that far. Just a thought. Good luck
The main reason there are so many long-haul driver positions open is because all the long-haul drivers are looking for local jobs where they can be home every night. Most local and regional trucking companies won’t even talk to you unless you have at least a years experience in long-haul trucking.
If you really want to drive for a living and sleep in your own bed every night, there’s always positions open for school bus drivers, or maybe you can haul dirt and rocks for a local construction company.
Here’s the deal in the US, most trucking company’s like England,Swift and quite a few others are franchised out. meaning that some middle eastern guy from India owns the franchise, he dosent want to pay you so most drivers leave him unless your his cousin here on a work visa and go looking for better work and a steady paycheck, so thats why you see the drivers for hire adds all the time, yea they will even train you, yea right! unless you have OTR experiance and Hasmat certs your going to be hauling freight OTR for Habieb, hauling fuel for Chevron locally is another story. and a lot better money.
long hours, low pay, long trips away from home, are just a few of the issue facing long haul truckers. add to that strict DOT regulations, and the constant pressure to get your loads in on time and short time intervals from pick up to delivery.
Long hours and loneliness. Not a field many people want to get into.
JUST BECAUSE OF THE REASONS YOU LISTED/people want to be local