Truck Driver Jobs Blog

Fed Highlights Driver Shortage

Posted on www.BigRigJobs.com

The Federal Reserve noted in it's January 18th edition of the Beige Book that the truck driver shortage continues. The report said that driver shortages in the Atlanta, Cleveland, Chicago, and Philadelphia Districts remained strong. This issue of the Beige Book said "Most Districts reported moderate increases in employment. Labor markets tightened in some areas and for some occupations". Some of the tightening occured in the Philidelphia District where "Trucking firms reported continuing high rates of activity, resulting in difficulty finding sufficient numbers of drivers.".

The report said that the Cleveland District felt that "Demand for trucking and shipping services remained strong throughout the last six weeks of 2005, and stronger than at this time a year ago. Higher fuel costs continued to concern contacts, even though trucking companies have been able to maintain their surcharges. Many contacts also reported that their firms intend to increase base rates beginning in 2006. Carriers continued to report difficulty attracting and retaining drivers, however few firms planned to increase wages. Some acquisitions are reportedly being undertaken to add additional drivers to firms. Capital spending in the industry is expected to stay strong given changes in emissions regulations that will take effect in 2007.
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The Atlanta District stated of Transportation that "Trucking contacts reported that freight demand remained solid. However, some noted lower margins because of high fuel costs. Driver shortages are still a major concern. For instance, activity at the Port of New Orleans was reportedly limited by a shortage of truck drivers.
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The Chicago district said of Business Spending that truck driver shortages persisted. In spite of these persistant truck driver shortages, "trucker wage gains reportedly slowed".

The Kansas City commented "The percentage of contacts reporting labor shortages edged down from the previous survey. However, several types of workers were said to be difficult to find, including truck drivers, auto mechanics, oil and gas workers and unskilled manufacturing workers.".

More complete information can be found on the report itself at: http://www.federalreserve.gov/FOMC/BeigeBook/2006/20060118/FullReport.htm

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