Driver turnover rate falls, but market still tight

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The driver turnover rate among American truckload carriers declined during the second quarter of this year, but the job market for professional drivers remains tight, the American Trucking Associations reported this week.

ATA, which began collecting driver turnover statistics in 1995, reported annualized driver turnover rates fell for both large and small truckload carriers during the 2006 second quarter.

The driver turnover rate in the U.S. falls, but still at
100 percent or higher for large and small fleets

The large truckload carrier rate dropped to 110 percent from 116 percent in the 2006 first quarter. This was the lowest rate since the 2003 fourth quarter. Similarly, the small motor carrier driver turnover rate decreased 11 percentage points to 100 percent during the quarter when compared with the first three months of the year.

“Despite reduced rates among both groups, driver turnover remains relatively high by 1990 standards,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “This is a clear signal that the driver shortage has become more acute in recent years.”

The long-haul, heavy-duty truck transportation industry in the U.S. is experiencing a national shortage of 20,000 truck drivers, and this shortage is expected to increase to 111,000 by 2014 if current demographic trends stay their course and if the overall labor force continues to grow at a slower pace, says the ATA. Of the 3.4 million truck drivers on the road, 1.3 million are in the long-haul trucker segment, which is most severely impacted by the shortage.

Less-than-truckload carriers continued to post a low annual turnover rate, Costello said. The LTL line-haul driver annualized turnover rate remained flat at 13 percent during the 2006 second quarter, compared with the first three months of the year.


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