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America has a truck driver shortage

washingtonpost.com

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Re: America has a truck driver shortage

#151

Post by meritt »

lopmotr wrote: post #129
meritt wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Labor shortages absolutely exist. If there are 100 jobs requiring a specific skill and only 97 people exist who have that skill, that's a labor shortage. Those companies can compete for those workers all they want, but it doesn't magically create 3 new workers. Those shortages create opportunities and more people train to fill those gaps but it takes some amount of time before 3 new workers are available.

In that case, 3 companies will realize they don't actually need those workers afterall, not for the salary they're demanding. They'll find another way to do business without hiring them, or they might even go out of business, which is fine and normal in a well functioning economy. There's actually no need for truck drivers. People could carry loads on their backs. The reason companies don't hire people for this is be…

> In that case, 3 companies will realize they don't actually need those workers afterall, not for the salary they're demanding. They'll find another way to do business without hiring them, or they might even go out of business, which is fine and normal in a well functioning economy.

Absolutely that could happen. But it's funny how you refuse to acknowledge that there may be a "labor shortage" and instead you present it as a "abundance of jobs", as if they aren't two sides of the same coin.

Your second point is just ridiculous, I agree.

Re: America has a truck driver shortage

#153

Post by FLUX-YOU »

PedroBatista wrote: post #139
adrianN wrote: post #9

Becoming a truck driver currently doesn't seem a wise choice when self-driving trucks are on the horizon.

No robot or AI can deal with the dispatchers, lumpers and 95% of the loading/unloading sites. Ever! Humans can barely handle it.

So what?

AI only being useful on highways is still useful -- if not still far off. Off-ramp the AI trucks into a huge ass parking lot where a human does the last mile(s).

Re: America has a truck driver shortage

#154

Post by cesarb »

personlurking wrote: post #119

Brazil's current trucker strike brought to light how things could go if there were a similar strike in the States. The BBC article below doesn't say much about the lack of products available for the average person living in a major city, but friends in Brazil said the repercussions to their day-to-day life have been large. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-44275782

> but friends in Brazil said the repercussions to their day-to-day life have been large.

Yes, they have. First, the fuel situation: trucks carrying fuel to gas stations were blocked by strikers, so they quickly ran out of fuel. Buses need diesel fuel to run, so people can't get to work. Cars also need fuel (gasoline or ethanol) to run, so even people who have cars can't get to work. Those with gas-powered cars (mostly taxis) could still get fuel (it goes to the gas station through pipes), but even these need a small amount of gasoline to start the motor.

Then, the food situation: almost all the fresh food is gone from the markets, and what little there is got really expensive (like 4 or 5 times more expensive). Longer-lived but basic food (like rice and beans) flew from the shelves, since people still have memories from the hyperinflation days last century. Huge amounts of food had to be thrown away in the farms.

Hospitals had to cancel all non-emergency surgery, since stocks are running really low. Industries have stopped, since they can't get their inputs or don't have space to store their outputs. There was a risk of water rationing in some places, since stocks of water treatment chemicals ran low.

We're lucky that our country's power supply is mostly hydro, and most of the thermal generators either get their fuel through pipes, or had enough fuel stored locally. Only a few distant cities (probably without interconnection to the national system) lost power.

Things are getting better. Many of the blockades have now been cleared, and fuel trucks escorted by the police or the army are getting fuel to essential services and to the gas stations. Hopefully trucks will soon be able to get food from the farms to the markets.

Re: America has a truck driver shortage

#155

Post by tlb »

When you're planning to replace a profession with technology, it's a winning strategy to start spreading long-term career doom over the profession a few years ahead of when you're ready to launch, so that there'll be a labor shortage and higher wages when you're ready to enter the market.

(Not dealing with ethics here, just strategy for winning.)

We've had a few years now of news stories about how truck drivers will all be replaced with self-driving. I'd wondered about whether that was good strategy on the part of companies working on self-driving, because it might cause truck drivers to organize and lobby for regulation to keep it out. But it seems to be working for them.

Re: America has a truck driver shortage

#156

Post by toomuchtodo »

jacobkg wrote: post #41

I hired the same company to move my car across the country then back four years apart. The same man drove the truck. He told me he expects the company will shut down in another decade or two as it’s too hard to find good reliable drivers who want a long term trucking job. It’s a family run company with a stellar reputation and they aren’t interested in short timers

Seems like the solution is to charge a bit more, pay a bit more, and give long term employees equity in the business.

Re: America has a truck driver shortage

#157

Post by platz »

yasp wrote: post #29
Karishma1234 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By your logic entire concept of labour shortage is outrageous because any shortage will clear with high enough price. But for any job such as that of Truck drive the market value of that job is only X. Paying more than X would mean you should look for alternatives and get out of that business. As the truck diver salaries go up cost of everything that relies on transportation also goes up marginally. Suddenly the stru…

Yes. This is how a well functioning economy works.

exactly - if they truly have a trucking shortage, the prices of all the intermediaries will have to rise, including the end shelf-price.

More short-term, Wallmart will either just discontinue that product or offer it elsewhere due to free movement of capital. We'll get just a couple brands of cereal at the supermarket, instead of 25.

Re: America has a truck driver shortage

#158

Post by markvdb »

Have a look at the trucking jobs in the European Union. Loads of truck drivers from low wage EU member states. Some working for under 500€ a month, or 6000€ a year.

A friend from the Baltics is teaching new drivers... from the Phillipines, because the local ones are getting "expensive". To speak of a race to the bottom...

Re: America has a truck driver shortage

#160

Post by jessriedel »

tlb wrote: post #155

When you're planning to replace a profession with technology, it's a winning strategy to start spreading long-term career doom over the profession a few years ahead of when you're ready to launch, so that there'll be a labor shortage and higher wages when you're ready to enter the market. (Not dealing with ethics here, just strategy for winning.) We've had a few years now of news stories about how truck drivers will…

Or the people making predictions are basically right, and young people are rationally not opting as frequently to join the profession?
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