"Thank You"
We are roughly 48,000 truck drivers short of filling demand. can be attributed to numerous factors, One solution to the problem that most anyone can agree upon is the that drivers need to be paid more. Though there are many factors contributing America's truck driver shortage including lifestyle, government regulations, an aging driver pool, among others. The solution to curbing the shortage seems to be multifaceted, and one part of it is most certainly increasing driver pay.
We are losing about 95,000 drivers each year to retirement, so we need to attract more young drivers in addition to retaining the ones that are there now. Increasing regulations from the government have pushed some drivers that may not have necessarily been at the age of retirement to go ahead and retire. Another issue at the heart of the driver shortage besides government regulations and driver retirement is a driver’s lifestyle. Being a truck driver is not an easy or glorious job. Rarely do you hear a child say they want to grow up to drive a truck. Truckers live a good portion of their life out on the road away from their family. They miss out on their children growing up. They eat many meals from gas stations and fast food chains.
Do you ever stop to think about how stores get the items they sell? Their average lifespan is about 61 Were it not for truck drivers delivering items to stores we would have no items to buy on “Black Friday”. In fact, we wouldn't have many stores, much less stocked shelves because, after all, they haul the materials that the stores themsleves are built with, right?
The truck drivers get it there.
There's no doubt that as many of us are eating our Thanksgiving meals and spending time with friends, family and loved ones there is a truck driver stranded in a snowstorm somewhere out West unable to make it home to his or her family in time for Thanksgiving. Somewhere there is a driver broken down on the side of the road who will not be with friends and family over the holiday. Somewhere there is a driver sacrificing time with loved ones in order to keep the bills paid. Somewhere there's a driver sitting at the dock of your favorite retailer helping to unload that "Black Friday" deal that you are anxiously waiting to purchase. It can be slightly discouraging to see that even some of the industry insiders themselves don't seem to know the best way to effectively attract and retain drivers. Here's a novel idea: let's start with a simple "Thank You!".
We are losing about 95,000 drivers each year to retirement, so we need to attract more young drivers in addition to retaining the ones that are there now. Increasing regulations from the government have pushed some drivers that may not have necessarily been at the age of retirement to go ahead and retire. Another issue at the heart of the driver shortage besides government regulations and driver retirement is a driver’s lifestyle. Being a truck driver is not an easy or glorious job. Rarely do you hear a child say they want to grow up to drive a truck. Truckers live a good portion of their life out on the road away from their family. They miss out on their children growing up. They eat many meals from gas stations and fast food chains.
Do you ever stop to think about how stores get the items they sell? Their average lifespan is about 61 Were it not for truck drivers delivering items to stores we would have no items to buy on “Black Friday”. In fact, we wouldn't have many stores, much less stocked shelves because, after all, they haul the materials that the stores themsleves are built with, right?
The truck drivers get it there.
There's no doubt that as many of us are eating our Thanksgiving meals and spending time with friends, family and loved ones there is a truck driver stranded in a snowstorm somewhere out West unable to make it home to his or her family in time for Thanksgiving. Somewhere there is a driver broken down on the side of the road who will not be with friends and family over the holiday. Somewhere there is a driver sacrificing time with loved ones in order to keep the bills paid. Somewhere there's a driver sitting at the dock of your favorite retailer helping to unload that "Black Friday" deal that you are anxiously waiting to purchase. It can be slightly discouraging to see that even some of the industry insiders themselves don't seem to know the best way to effectively attract and retain drivers. Here's a novel idea: let's start with a simple "Thank You!".
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