How to fix the driver shortage

By Govind Bhatti, Founder & CEO of Haulmate

To paraphrase Mark Twain’s wisecrack about the weather, “Everybody talks about the truck driver shortage, but nobody does anything about it." All the time, energy, and money that’s spent annually on finding—and keeping—enough CDL-qualified drivers onboard is a substantial drain on trucking and logistics resources.

Keeping driver’s seats full, whether with veteran employees or new hires, is a strain on nearly every department of a trucking operation, from human resources to driver training and safety compliance all the way to fleet equipment purchasing, trade cycles, and preventive maintenance. Not to mention working against fostering positive customer experiences.

The reason why there’s a constant scramble to get and keep drivers is complex. So much so that some stakeholders disagree on whether there is a true shortage or too much churn among existing drivers. The answer is that many on the front lines see the battle as a shortage, driven by changing demographics that’s exacerbated by heavy turnover.

To be sure, the unstoppable graying of America is impacting the entire workforce. Demographers have warned this was coming since the 1990s. But trucking has been slow to react over the ensuing 30 years, largely sitting back while the traditional white male labor pool for over-the-road truckers kept shrinking via retirement.

What was needed then and is needed now, more than ever, is shifting gears to actively recruit more women, more members of all minority groups, and more young people of every demographic group. And the best way to do that is two-fold: make truck driving attractive to more people and educate people more about what a career driving trucks can deliver them.

Where they’re going

The aging of America’s baby boomers continues apace— demographers peg the youngest boomers as born in 1964, meaning they hit 60 last year. Meantime, their children and grandchildren are more likely to seek a career as a knowledge worker or as a licensed professional, all jobs with few hours worked away from home-- and with much less physical fatigue and fewer safety concerns during all working hours.

Those are the challenges. They are being met by executives of truck operations large and small who are coalescing around innovative strategies that should collectively have a sizable impact, especially if they are pursued for a sustained period.

Ten tips

Here are ten ways to help attract and keep CDL drivers:

1. Widening the recruitment scope to appeal to women, minorities, younger workers, and military veterans

   
   

2. Developing definable career paths drivers may elect to pursue to move up in the company

   
   

3. Improving work-life balance, including more flexible scheduling

   
   

4. Shortening routes to make the job more appealing by localizing it as much as possible

   
   

5. Improving how drivers are treated, from recruiting to onboarding and on until retirement, including assigning driver-mentors to new hires

   
   

6. Ensuring everyone from dispatchers to mechanics are trained to treat drivers as internal customers

   
   

7. Spec’ing power equipment to make it more appealing with advanced safety and driver-comfort features

   
   

8. Helping drivers find safe, secure overnight parking spots

   
   

9. Providing workshops on personal finance

   
   

10. Boosting driver pay by any means possible, including setting higher overall rates; improving benefits; offering bonuses, and considering hourly pay where it may work well for driver and employer

While all these strategies will appeal to new and veteran drivers, none has a greater impact than higher pay. And pay is going up. Per the latest National Survey of Driver Wages benchmarking report by research firm National Transportation Institute (NTI), driver wages at for-hire fleets in the first months of 2025 are seeing their strongest year-over-year gains.

NTI found that driver pay adjustments have risen at for-hire trucking firms since late last summer. And for dedicated 3PLs, private fleets, fleets with labor-intensive or more nuanced jobs, and fleets with location-based hiring and compensation models, “pay benchmarking and adjustments have remained active.”

Nudging higher

Although the ongoing sluggishness in freight still restrains wage growth, NTI advises that for drivers with 1 year of experience and 3 years of experience, for-hire fleets “continue to nudge their pay packages higher, with the 45 to 55-cent pay ranges seeing less prevalence, and 55 to 65-cent ranges seeing higher prevalence.”

NTI also observes that truck driving jobs “within every market has reacted differently to the wage pressures and market dynamics over the past four years,” with that especially true for private fleets, dedicated 3PLs, and the myriad of for-hire trucking companies working anything beyond general truckload in OTR and long-haul.”

The research firm notes that “the more unique the job, the more attention fleets put on their pay packages, their benchmarking activity, and their adjustments, even through a tougher freight cycle like over the past two years.”

So, keep planning to dig deeper on pay. But remember, too, that mankind does not live on bread alone. All the other benefits above, everything from 401ks to work-life balance, will help pull in new hires — and help keep the drivers you’ve already found.

Keep your eye on your mission and the trendlines that help you define and refine it. If you’d like more insight on how to staff your trucking and logistics operations, reach out to Haulmate. We’re here, like you, 24/7.