Carriers already experiencing difficulties finding drivers and O/Os, CTHRC study shows
TORONTO, Ont. – About six in 10 Canadian fleets are experiencing difficulties filling vacancies for Class 1/AZ drivers while more than half are having trouble finding owner/operators, according to research released today by the Canadian Trucking Human Resources Council.
The research also shows that 48% of fleets surveyed are having trouble filling vacant jobs for Class 3/D drivers.
The CTHRC’s Beyond the Wheel 2 research initiative surveyed 1,112 industry representatives in late 2011, and it updates ongoing research into the demand for workers in nine key industry occupations.
Other findings include:
– The demand for employees is on the rise: Almost 45% of surveyed fleets expect their labor needs to increase over the next five years and 26% expect the demand to stay the same. Another 21% did not know what to expect.
– The industry’s workforce is aging: Thirty percent of industry employees are 45 to 54 years old and 17% are 55 or older. Those 45 years and older account for 58% of Class 1/A company drivers, 49% of owner/operators and 44% of truck/transport mechanics.
– Women continue to be underrepresented in the industry: A mere 3% of company truck drivers and 4% of owner/operators are women. However, women account for 25% of freight claims/safety and loss prevention specialists; 19% of dispatchers; and 11% of foremen, supervisors and managers.
All of Beyond the Wheel’s data and projections are combined with other economic indicators, and are available free of charge through the demand data tool on CTHRC’s Labour Information Highway, at www.cthrc.com.
“With this updated forecasting data, every Canadian fleet will have access to the latest information needed to support everything from business plans to recruiting strategies,” says Angela Splinter, CTHRC’s executive director. “With geographic-specific data, they will be able to compare their individual experiences against regional benchmarks, and identify issues that can only be addressed by CTHRC’s extensive suite of tools and resources.”
The latest research addresses the demand for employees in occupations including truck drivers; owner/operators; shunt drivers; cargo workers; dispatchers; freight claims/safety and loss prevention specialists; foremen, supervisors and managers; and allied trades such as truck and transport mechanics, transport trailer technicians, and parts technicians.
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I have to agree….pay more and less waiting without pay
pay more is always good but i think being honest with your employees is better..times are tuff in the trucking industry and telling your drivers to drive all day and nite is not good.you cant run legal logbooks when you del a load sit most of the day then have to be 400 miles for the morning to del..its not fare to a driver trying to make a living and run log book .dishpatchers make scheduele un realistic at times .
Try paying more! Make it so a guy gets to see his family regularly (and by “regularly”, I don’t mean every three months) My daughter is a first year apprentice auto-body technician and has not even seen the inside of a classroom yet and makes $26.50/hour. She’s home every night. My son works as a valve repair technician (no formal training, just “on-the job”) and makes over $85,000.00/year. He does wind up working out of town but is home every weekend. Why on earth would either of them consider driving a truck? For a driver to adequately support his family, he’ll never be able to see them.