The following graph from Truckstop.com, an online freight-matching service, shows a gauge of demand for available trucks started to firm in early 2017 and then accelerated this year.
An index of May freight shipments from Cass was the strongest since before the last recession and close to a record in data back to 1990. That helped propel a measure of expenditures on truck transportation to an all-time high.
A near-record number of unfilled positions across the U.S., along with the grind and stress of a career putting in long hours behind the wheel, underscore the difficulty the trucking industry has in attracting drivers. Government figures show that while long-distance freight hauling payrolls are increasing, they’re doing so at a snail’s pace and remain below the peaks of the last two expansions.
Last year, wage gains merely matched the rate of inflation in the broader economy. With the freight-transportation sector tightening and companies growing more desperate to put people behind the wheels of big rigs, that may start to change. Historically, about 30 percent of trucking companies’ rate increases are passed through in the form of wage increases, according to Bloomberg analyst Klaskow.
“The market has been much tighter this time around and they are passing at least 50 percent to drivers now, and a smaller percentage is going to the bottom line,” Klaskow said.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.