A top three issue in 2015, the driver shortage has dropped to number seven overall this year, reflecting concern over the softening freight market. Despite the drop in ranking, the American Trucking Associations (ATA) still estimated a shortage of 48,000 drivers in 2015, with projections that the shortage could increase to 175,000 by 2025.
Trucking companies are carrying near-record freight loads even as demand for more truck drivers is going through the roof, causing widespread shortages, turnover, and churn, according to one report. Critics claim that carriers have brought the problem on themselves. Truck driver jobs aren’t what they once were, and the industry lacks the imagination to change the perception.