Here are some headlines from the commercial trucking industry that show continued growth and higher demand for CDL trained drivers.
Website promotes women in trucking
A website from the Women in Trucking Associations hopes to promote the truck driving profession to prospective candidates.
Called “I heart Trucking” the website allows current drivers to upload their own videos explaining why they love driving a commercial truck for a living.
One video showcased amazing sunsets over the horizon while on the road, while another featured a female driver talking about all the states she had visited and the natural landmarks she had seen.
“Each video may be up to 2 minutes long and should be submitted to Women In Trucking for online display and judging,” the website says. “The project is sponsored by Internet Truckstop and the website is hosted and powered by AllTruckJobs.com.”
FMCSA improves truck safety website
Increased safety regulations, along with deeper accountability has many employers in the trucking sector looking for applicants with the skills and safety record to get the job done on time and in a safe manner.
An example of the increased focus on safety can be found in the website enhancements the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is making.
“The Compliance, Safety, Accountability program’s carrier rankings site — the Safety Measurement System — is getting a makeover in August, as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has finalized the redesign of the site first announced last November,” reports Overdrive Magazine. “One of the key goals of the redesign is to better highlight elements of the SMS that actually correlate with crash risk, FMCSA says. The site should also be easier for motor carriers to understand how they can improve their scores and easier for third-parties or members of the public who work with trucking companies to interpret the scores, the agency says.”
By offering improved resources and tracking systems to drivers, the FMCSA hopes to continue the industry’s trend of improving safety records. This also means truck carriers across the country are paying extra close attention to the safe driving habits of their drivers.
“FMCSA says the changes also ‘clarify the SMS’s role as a prioritization tool’ for carrier interventions, rather than a carrier scoring system,” Overdrive added. “The changes will take place Aug. 2, FMCSA says in its Federal Register notice.”
Trucking looks to grow over next decade
A new report from the American Trucking Associations predicts continued growth for the trucking industry as freight volumes are expected to rise and the share shipped by commercial trucks is predicted to increase.
“Trucking will see continued growth both in freight and revenue in the next 10 years, according to the American Trucking Associations’ U.S. Freight Transportation Forecast to 2025,” Overdrive Magazine reports. “Between now and 2025, tonnage will grow 23.5 percent, ATA predicts, while freight revenues are projected to grow a whopping 72 percent.”
This growth means truck carriers will have to adapt to new procedures in an effort to remain competitive.
“Adaptation by carriers will be key to enjoying the boom, says ATA, as regional growth patterns, technological changes and the evolution of manufacturing and distribution will make the industry more complex,” Overdrive adds. “Carriers that become ‘True logistics experts’ will be the ones that come out on top, ATA’s report says.
“The report also predicts that truck’s share of freight will continue to grow in the next 10 years, though by just a few percentage points — from 69.1 to 71.4. Truckload volume will grow by about 3.5 percent a year through 2019 and then 1.2 percent annually in the next five years, the report predicts. But truckload carriers will use intermodal rail for longer hauls.”
Truck dealers selling more trucks
Increased truck sales are a product of a growing economy, which is pushing up demand for truck shipping.
“Moderate freight growth and a stable economy, combined with our ability to offer unique solutions and company-wide efforts to ‘integrate and execute’ resulted in record-setting performance this quarter,” said W. M. “Rusty” Rush, chairman, CEO and President of Rush Enterprises. “We significantly outpaced the U. S. market in both heavy- and medium-duty new truck sales, achieving record market share in both segments.”
In its story, TruckingInfo.com also reported that “in the second quarter Rush’s Class 8 retail sales, which accounted for 6.5 percent of the U.S. market, increased by 74 percent over the same time period in 2013. Rush’s Class 4-7 medium-duty sales, which accounted for 5.7 percent of the total U.S. market, increased 49 percent over the second quarter of 2013.”
The growth of commercial trucking has made this an attractive job field for many jobseekers looking for long-term stability.
“During March we began to see the positive impact of a steady economy and improvements in freight movement in our Class 8 truck sales, and this trend continued throughout the second quarter,” said Rush. “In particular, sales of our new Class 8 stock trucks significantly increased as independent operators and smaller vocational fleets required work-ready equipment to take advantage of increased activity in energy, construction and refuse segments. Some larger fleets also replaced aged vehicles to reduce maintenance expenses, but fleet expansion remains tempered by the driver shortage and high cost of equipment.”