Truck driver shortage - true or false?

[avgas]

I hated counting past 8. So I was a useless truck driver. I would get to 14 and get confused

[Grubber]

There IS a shortage of drivers that can pass a drug test
There IS a shortage of drivers that have experience
There ISNT a shortage of drivers that have no experience that want to start at the top
There ISNT a shortage of drivers that don't see keeping their truck clean as part of the job

its all perception really.......I could do with two full time experienced class 5 drivers
i could also do with 2 trainee drivers that have a class 2 licence little or no experience that want to work towards a class 5 over a 2-3 year period.

jobs available now

Good luck with that.
We are hiring at present and looking for experienced operators.
5 years ago we could put an add in and get 100 replies, out of that we could pick between 15-20 applicants we could have taken on.
Put an add in a week ago and got 25 replies and out of them we could pick....hmmmm....one if we were lucky.
Plenty that want to come in and hop in $600k worth of truck and drive it after a year on class 4. Not happening.
We recruit young fellas now and put and pay for them through their classes. Works better if you can keep up with demand.
Then you get the ones that just want to come in and do shag all, lazy bastards, once again not happening.

[R650R]

Good luck with that.
We are hiring at present and looking for experienced operators.
5 years ago we could put an add in and get 100 replies, out of that we could pick between 15-20 applicants we could have taken on.
Put an add in a week ago and got 25 replies and out of them we could pick....hmmmm....one if we were lucky.

So are you willing to state publicly what pay and amount of (min)hours required for this job?
The transport industry has reaped what is sowed just like building industry. They slacked off on training apprentices and then wonder why shortage of workers.
I remember one big company I worked for had 3 fulltime driver trainers and a good safe respected fleet. Then the cost cutting started, first to go were the trainers, then the rollovers started... the payrises stopped and the exodus for the door began a vicous cycle...
I remember when I came back to NZ in 2005, there was still waiting lists to get into good companies. The fuel hikes started and cost cutting became the norm again. NZTA prob has bit to answer for too with the HPMV changes causing deferred decisions on new gear for many operators.
Recently I visited a local company to interview them. Lots of long term staff and happy faces. Why? Pay good wages, drivers stay in motels not the cab and all the gear is newish and well maintained...

[Grubber]

So are you willing to state publicly what pay and amount of (min)hours required for this job?
The transport industry has reaped what is sowed just like building industry. They slacked off on training apprentices and then wonder why shortage of workers.
I remember one big company I worked for had 3 fulltime driver trainers and a good safe respected fleet. Then the cost cutting started, first to go were the trainers, then the rollovers started... the payrises stopped and the exodus for the door began a vicous cycle...
I remember when I came back to NZ in 2005, there was still waiting lists to get into good companies. The fuel hikes started and cost cutting became the norm again. NZTA prob has bit to answer for too with the HPMV changes causing deferred decisions on new gear for many operators.
Recently I visited a local company to interview them. Lots of long term staff and happy faces. Why? Pay good wages, drivers stay in motels not the cab and all the gear is newish and well maintained...

Yup sure.
$23 starting rate and roughly around the 60 hour mark per week. We try and make sure they have a 2 day weekend every month where possible.
We have trip rates that include a 10 hour day and anything over that they get paid extra hours.
We are moving in the other direction at the moment. We have now got a driver trainer and we are currently hiring apprentices.
The HPMV status about a year ago was atrocious. We built 4 new trailers with 4 axles. Rules changed and now we are adding another axle to them for 50MAX. They took forever to sort out a system.

It wasn't our place you visited by any chance??
All our drivers stay in motels and are all well paid (well we think they are ) old hands getting in excess of $26 an hour plus meals etc.
They all drive new Scania R620 with 5 axle pull trailers.
They always seem to be happy around here.

[R650R]

They always seem to be happy around here.

I'm pretty sure I know who your outfit is based on that info. Definitely one of the good employers where you don't hear the drivers moaning at deliveries or on CB, and fairly easy work.
No never been into your yard, have changed a tyre out front on the way to a competitor a bit further into countryside from there ages ago.
If I'm right about my guess, good luck with that other place you just acquired, some good revenue there if run properly.

[Grubber]

I'm pretty sure I know who your outfit is based on that info. Definitely one of the good employers where you don't hear the drivers moaning at deliveries or on CB, and fairly easy work.
No never been into your yard, have changed a tyre out front on the way to a competitor a bit further into countryside from there ages ago.
If I'm right about my guess, good luck with that other place you just acquired, some good revenue there if run properly.

Sounds like your on the money.
Things are working well at the moment with the integration. Has added some real value. We have just purchased 3 new R560 tractors and 3 new 50MAX B Trains to tidy some of the fleet up. 2 new 6 wheelers for town deliveries to tidy things up a little as well.

All of this doesn't solve our driver shortages of coarse.
Pop in for a coffee next time your passing, ya might get a job.

[cruza]

Good luck with that.
We are hiring at present and looking for experienced operators.
5 years ago we could put an add in and get 100 replies, out of that we could pick between 15-20 applicants we could have taken on.
Put an add in a week ago and got 25 replies and out of them we could pick....hmmmm....one if we were lucky.
Plenty that want to come in and hop in $600k worth of truck and drive it after a year on class 4. Not happening.
We recruit young fellas now and put and pay for them through their classes. Works better if you can keep up with demand.
Then you get the ones that just want to come in and do shag all, lazy bastards, once again not happening.

Then you have too factor in the huge cost of advertising , screening and still taking the risk with a new driver, boogles the mind seeing some of the bills.

[skippa1]

Some interesting comments......I have roughly 45 full time drivers working for me at the moment and no one is coerced to fudge log books, nor are they encouraged to flaunt any laws.....the penalties are way too high and there is no future in killing people. They get fair pay for fair work and if they look after gear they get good gear, if they don't, they're not there for long.

Fiddling log books? those that know of that type of behaviour should do something about it....dob em in.....the pay rates would go up, the cowboys would go out of business and the standard of trucks would improve ten fold.

or get on here and grizzle

[Grubber]

Then you have too factor in the huge cost of advertising , screening and still taking the risk with a new driver, boogles the mind seeing some of the bills.

And let's not start with the ones that phone up saying " I have class 4 but getting 5 next week, can I get the job" even though you specifically asked for 5 years experience in class 5. So much time gets wasted. Valuable time I might add. Yra I could give you some rwal doozies that I have heard over the years. Then you do reference checks to find thw onea you do have are wasters also. They dont seem to realise when you been in this game for a few years you usually know previous employers fairly well.

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[Grubber]

Some interesting comments......I have roughly 45 full time drivers working for me at the moment and no one is coerced to fudge log books, nor are they encouraged to flaunt any laws.....the penalties are way too high and there is no future in killing people. They get fair pay for fair work and if they look after gear they get good gear, if they don't, they're not there for long.

Fiddling log books? those that know of that type of behaviour should do something about it....dob em in.....the pay rates would go up, the cowboys would go out of business and the standard of trucks would improve ten fold.

or get on here and grizzle

We are the same with logbooks. No fiddling required runs are set up to alleviate that issue.
I agree with the dob them in part. The less cowboys the better and safer it will be for my guys.
We have had one accident in 15 years. Rolled a trailer and that was due to rear axle snapping u bolts so no driver error on that one either.
Have to keep onea head above water at all times.


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[caspernz]

We are the same with logbooks. No fiddling required runs are set up to alleviate that issue.
I agree with the dob them in part. The less cowboys the better and safer it will be for my guys.
We have had one accident in 15 years. Rolled a trailer and that was due to rear axle snapping u bolts so no driver error on that one either.
Have to keep onea head above water at all times.


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Yep, fully agree with your attitude. Interesting entry/exit from your yard though, must be a bit of a challenge in the rush hour. See your gear on Sesame Street every night, and may I add your crew driving them belongs in that magic top 5%, nothing to do with me being pro Euro trucks.

For the OP. Trucking can be fun, and yes there's money in it for the right drivers. The starting point might have to be a recruiting outfit, doing work such as local supermarket type deliveries, concrete mixers or furniture as suggested already. Getting started is the hard part, keep your licence clean, gain the classes and see if it's for you.

[Danger Dave]

As some one who has recently got a class 2, i have been keeping an eye out for jobs but everywhere i have looked is after someone with experience but how are you supposed to get it when no one will give you the chance, I'm not in a hurry to find anything as i currently have a good job in the motorcycle industry but i have been thinking about making the change at some point.

[buggerit]

As some one who has recently got a class 2, i have been keeping an eye out for jobs but everywhere i have looked is after someone with experience but how are you supposed to get it when no one will give you the chance, I'm not in a hurry to find anything as i currently have a good job in the motorcycle industry but i have been thinking about making the change at some point.

Ag contractors will be looking for staff for the coming silage/cropping season now/soon.

[Grubber]

Yep, fully agree with your attitude. Interesting entry/exit from your yard though, must be a bit of a challenge in the rush hour. See your gear on Sesame Street every night, and may I add your crew driving them belongs in that magic top 5%, nothing to do with me being pro Euro trucks.

For the OP. Trucking can be fun, and yes there's money in it for the right drivers. The starting point might have to be a recruiting outfit, doing work such as local supermarket type deliveries, concrete mixers or furniture as suggested already. Getting started is the hard part, keep your licence clean, gain the classes and see if it's for you.

Interesting it is!
Mind you we don't head out till around 5.30pm when the worst traffic is gone. Then through the night is no issue anyway. It's really only in the morning around the 830am mark for an hour we have trouble form time to time. Any other time it's not too bad.
Glad you think drivers are up there. Something we try to protect with passion. Pay well and get good guys were we can.

[SMOKEU]

There IS a shortage of drivers that can pass a drug test

Fuck working for dickheads like that, what an employee does in their spare time has nothing to do with the employer as long as it doesn't affect the work. I've never seen or heard of an employer who is good to work for who asks for drug tests, except in some very highly regulated industries such as airline pilots. That should set off alarm bells straight away if they even ask.