Understanding the Truck Driver Shortage, 2021

For the past few years, America has been experiencing a major truck driver shortage; 2021 is bringing with it a new wave of openings within the trucking transportation industry as the gap in manpower continues to grow. America’s economy greatly relies on truck drivers and there have already been major ramifications for other industries due to the current shortage. These problems will only be exacerbated if there is no response to the existing truck driver shortage; 2021 could be the year that we begin to turn this negative trend around, however. 

As information about the industry becomes more accessible, demographics key to building a healthy trucking labor force are being reached every day. This is leading many to seek out their own path to gaining a commercial driver’s license. The current lack of truck drivers is not for a lack of rewarding and remunerative employment opportunities. Truck Driver Institute makes it easy to get your commercial truck driver’s license. You can apply to the new and exciting opportunities that are opening up everyday! The industry is evolving to incentivize truck driving positions making now the best time to get your CDL and contribute to curbing the truck driver shortage. 

Reasons For The Truck Driver 2021 Shortage

The work forces of many industries ebb and flow over time as the economy shifts and society evolves. In the case of the truck driver shortage 2021 is experiencing, a few things that contributed to the lapse in employment include:

Current Truckers are Retiring

The truck driver shortage has been greatly impacted by the demographic that typically makes up the industry’s workforce. The majority of truck drivers are over 45 years of age and that makes for a shorter time in the industry as they age and near retirement. The need for younger drivers is now stronger than ever as the industry steadily creeps towards a mass retirement of its labor force. Federal regulations make recruiting younger drivers difficult however, as young people are unable to legally obtain a CDL until the age of 21. Though complicated by this limitation, the trucking industry is actively seeking young drivers to help fill the existing labor gap. 

Gender Barrier Within The Trucking Industry

For years there has been a gender gap in the trucking industry’s labor force, lending over time to a larger and larger truck driver shortage – 2021 is no different. While it’s true that there are more men in the American labor market in general, the gender gap in other industries is dwarfed in comparison to the one found in the trucking industry. According to the PEW Research Center, women make up nearly 47% of the American labor force, yet in the trucking industry only 10% of commercial truck drivers are female. Luckily, this percentage is up from the previous year’s 7%. Still, the lack of female drivers on the road continues to plague  the trucking industry and feed the truck driver shortage it currently faces. As stated, more women are steadily joining the field and finding out that the field can be as enriching and fulfilling to them as it is to their male counterparts, a trend that if continued can greatly blunt the current truck driver shortage 2021 and recent subsequent years have seen.

Loss of Labor Force Due to the Pandemic

When the globe was rocked by the coronavirus pandemic in late 2019, the economy came to a snail’s crawl and the effects of that reverberated throughout several industries. These effects impacted the trucking industry particularly hard. Between slowed commerce, shorter hours, stay-at-home orders, and more, a slurry of social and economic factors culminated in what essentially became early retirement or career shifts for many people in the industry’s already stunted workforce. In this way, the truck driver shortage 2021 is seeing has an unfortunate link to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the world continues to adjust to life beyond COVID, the economy is getting back into gear, but the manpower lost during the pandemic didn’t simply reappear. According to data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it was found that during the worst of the pandemic, the trucking industry lost 6% of its labor force. While some of these openings have been refilled since, many of those positions are still vacant, thus the truck driver shortage deepens. 

Combat the Truck Driver Shortage 2021 with Truck Driver Institute 

With so many positions now available, trucker drivers are in higher demand than ever before. Lots of employers are looking for ways to incentivize truck driving positions and there are a variety of highly lucrative opportunities available. That makes now the best time to join the trucking industry as a commercial driver, and with TDI that becomes a very simple process. 

TDI offers students a fast track to graduation while also providing a comprehensive learning experience. Our program covers everything you need to know to pass your CDL exam and takes only three weeks to complete! We guarantee that our students get the best education possible because our program material is developed by veterans of the industry who have years and miles of experience to draw from. 

Additionally, TDI is authorized to oversee CDL examinations. This means that TDI can offer and administer the prerequisite test necessary for obtaining your commercial driver’s license on-site, further simplifying the process for you. Most importantly, at TDI, we stay at the cutting edge of industry standards and consistently place 80% of graduates in rewarding positions in the field, so you can feel confident about the time and money you invest in getting your CDL. 

If you have been considering getting your CDL, the truck driver shortage 2021 is facing makes it an ideal time to take the leap. TDI has locations all across the country, with classes available in Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Indiana, and many more. 

Call TDI or visit our website to learn more about how we make getting your CDL as easy as possible.