Current Issues in the Trucking Industry

Trucking is something that is required all over the country to fuel the economy. However, according to various sources reporting on this issue, there has been a large shortage of truckers which is leading to lowered supplies around the nation. According to The New York Times and other sources, this shortage is due to the poor working conditions that they experience and the low wages with little to no benefits. Changes are going to need to come soon, or there will continue to be major problems with the shipping industry.

Truckers live a hard life with poor living conditions. These workers can spend days away from their families driving on the road. They have no place to exercise, no healthy food to eat, and only a bed in their truck to stay in. These conditions, according to the New York Times, lead to heart disease as well as a variety of other dangerous conditions. These truckers live a lonely life behind the wheel with little social interaction and little reward in the end. On top of being dangerous for the driver, trucking can also be dangerous for others on the road. Inexperienced truckers can be just as dangerous on the road for others as their living conditions are for them. It is not uncommon for a new driver to roll their truck over and injure many other people on the road. Living in harsh conditions and still functioning on the road is just another challenge that truckers need to overcome.

According to greatplainstransport.com truckers currently only make $40,000 to $45,000 per year. These poor wages that truckers receive are just another issue that the truckers face. The current way that truck drivers are paid leaves a lot of issues. According to theGuardian.com, “One of the biggest problems is that most drivers get paid by the mile, often meaning that while they’re waiting to load their trucks, stuck in traffic jams, or on mandatory rest breaks, they aren’t making money.” Currently, truck drivers wait around until they are needed, without pay. Some truckers only receive payment when a load is delivered, and depending on the load the amount they receive can vary. The way that this works means that companies can have truckers wait around until they are needed which wastes a lot of these truckers’ time. Even if a trucker does get a load and they make it to the delivery point, the store can refuse to accept it. Since these truckers only get paid for the deliveries they make, they then have to find another place to go, extending their job even longer with no extra pay.

According to nbcnews.com, there are multiple ways that these issues can be fixed and improve the trucking industry. First, the truckers can be considered employees. This would fix a couple of issues with their wages and give them some benefits that could lead to improved health. A recent bill attempted to do this. According to nbcnews.com, “California Assembly Bill 5, or AB5, which drew strong opposition from trucking companies, would change the classification of many truck drivers from independent contractor to employee,” however, this bill was shot down due to legal challenges in the government. If a bill like this does get through congress and becomes a law, many of the problems that occur within the trucking industry would go away and the job could rise in popularity once again. Truckers’ wages would be changed to hourly payments and they would receive many of the insurance benefits that normal employees receive, something that they currently have to pay for on their own. With only two percent of truckers in an organized union, it is hard for them to fight for this law to be passed.

There are still a lot of issues present in the trucking industry and if these conditions are not changed, the shortage will not go away. If the wages and current lifestyle of the truckers can be fixed, the industry will once again come back to life and the supply shortage will start to go away.