Economy Hits Trucking Industry

[dollardaze]

Some of the nation's largest trucking outfits are reporting that they are no longer training drivers for it's fleets due to the downturn in the economy. Instead, any driver openings will exclusively be filled by veteran truckers.

Gone by are the years that trucking execs nationwide complained of a shortage of drivers. Trucking company failures have now spiked, with a record number of trucks sitting idle and truckers more inclined to stay with their current job.

It's expected than once the economy turns around, so will this over-supply of experienced truck drivers.

[Empty Wallet]

i have been waiting to see news like this. what a shame. i believe that if things don't change soon, we will end up going back to bringing supplies by train. and trucks will only be needed to pick up the goods for a company from the train station to the company itself. i new this was coming when the diesel prices were and still are high. Drivers cant afford to pay the prices out of their own pockets, and company drivers arent getting it from the companies, because they are tighting their budgets too.

[carol b]

This news has to make me wonder however if the incidents of over driving will increase. By over driving I mean log fudging and spending more hours driving and less sleeping.

These guys need the money and will do whatever it takes to get more of it. I am going to keep my distance on the road that is for sure. I suggest that everyone else do the same.

It is sad to see that the industry has taken a down turn but after such and up swing it was bound to happen sooner or later.

[dollardaze]

We can only hope that the truckers will use common sense and drive safely. I know that a lot of them do drive when they should be sleeping, and this is really scary.

I was really sad when I read the news that we have an overabundance of truckers, it's such a shame that they've also been hit by the economy. Hopefully that situation will begin to turn around soon - but I fear it won't.