FTR Associates, Nashville IN, projects that the driver shortage will shrink slightly to just over 100,000 drivers in the second quarter of 2005 with modest hiring activity offset by a slower growth in freight.
The driver labor environment tightened for the second consecutive month in January 2005, impacted primarily by fewer people participating in the total workforce in both December and January, according to the Driver Labor Market Indicators report published monthly by FTR Associates.
The report looks at supply and demand issues as well as how freight and broader labor markets affect the pool of available drivers.
The ability to put drivers in vehicles has a major impact on individual fleet and industry expansion plans, the report points out.