Are you at greater risk of a trucking accident because the US does not have enough truck drivers?

Our supply chain is facing an unprecedented need for more truck drivers. Are solutions to the truck driver shortage putting you and your loved ones at greater risk of tractor trailer crashes and trucking accidents?

If you’ve been involved in a truck accident, call our Pennsylvania truck crash lawyers as soon as possible to fight for the money you deserve in your insurance settlement.

We have a serious shortage of truck drivers in Pennsylvania and everywhere across the United States. According to the American Trucking Association, we have 80,000 less truck drivers than we need to efficiently transport goods and products around the country. The shortage of truck drivers is causing significant supply chain problems.

Fully loaded cargo ships are parked outside of our sea ports waiting to be unloaded. These cargo ships cannot be unloaded because the docks are full. The docks are full because there are not enough trucks to move the cargo away from the docks. It is the same thing with warehouses. Our warehouses are full of products that cannot get to the store shelves. The problem really is not a shortage of trucks, but rather a shortage of truck drivers. Many trucking companies have trucks parked in their lots with no one to drive them. This is the case even though the need for getting those trucks onto the road to move products is at an all-time high.

Why is there a truck driver shortage?

The truck driver shortage has many prongs.

Increased Consumer Demand For Products: Consumers are purchasing products and goods at an all-time high. It is probably a combination of stimulus money, lack of other places to spend disposable income because of COVID-19, and increased wages in the tight labor market that has led to the high demand for products and goods.

The volume of goods coming into the Port of Los Angeles has increased by 25% this year. The increased demand has created a need for more truck drivers than usual to move the products and goods across the country. Prior to COVID-19, we were already short on truck drivers needed to move all of our goods by about 61,500 jobs. We are currently short by 80,000 truck driver jobs.

Truck drivers are leaving the profession: Almost every sector of our economy has good job openings for better-than-usual wages at this time. Trucking driving can be a difficult job. This has led a good number of truck drivers to leave the profession for another vocation.

The good, bad & ugly of truck driving: Truck driving is not for everyone. It often requires drivers to be away from their homes and their families for weeks at a time. This puts a strain on relationships and can also cause health problems.

Truck drivers are often gone for so long and so often that they have trouble scheduling medical appointments to take care of their own health.

Some employers do not treat their employees well. Many company business models only pay truck drivers when they are moving. Drivers have reported sitting for up to 12 hours waiting for loading and unloading.

Some companies pay their truck drivers when delayed for loading or unloading, but only after two hours. Other companies do not pay at all when their truck drivers are delayed. Steve Viscelli, a leading socialist in the trucking industry of the University of Pennsylvania believes that the current trucking business model ends up churning through inexperienced drivers with little retention. In fact, turn-over rates at many of the large trucking companies are around 90 percent.

Truck drivers are older and retiring in record numbers: One-third of all truck drivers are over the age of 55 years old. Many have recently retired. In the next few years, there will be many more retirements.

The American Trucking Associations believes that the shortfall of truck drivers will go from 80,000 today to 160,000 by 2030 in part because of the number of new retirees. 

Allowing younger truck drivers may help solve the challenge of too few drivers, but is that practice putting you and your loved ones at heightened risks of truck accidents?

There is no end in sight for the truck driver shortage. It anticipated that the shortage will continue to grow throughout the decade.

Chad Rankin and the other attorneys Rankin & Gregory, LLC (RG Injury Law) help victims of truck accidents and tractor trailer collisions get the full compensation they deserve. If you or a loved one suffered injuries as the result of being hit by a truck, call right away for a free consultation. The sooner you call, the faster we can help protect you.

Call us for a no-pressure, tractor trailer truck accident injury case consultation at 717.656.5000.

You may think you need truck accident lawyers in Philadelphia to win your auto accident injury case and get a large settlement. That is not true. Our winning record is the result of personalized attention, clear communication with clients, thorough knowledge of vehicle law in Pennsylvania, and experience with car insurance companies. While we call Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, our home, our PA personal injury law firm fights for clients with injuries and disabilities in need of personal injury lawyers, and Workers’ Compensation lawyers throughout the mid-Atlantic region from offices in Lancaster County that include service in Harrisburg, Hershey, Middletown, Annville, Mt. Gretna, Elizabethtown, Columbia PA, Lancaster City, Neffsville, Hempfield Township, Manheim Borough, Manor Township, Manheim Township, Gap, Ephrata, Lititz, Leola, Mt. Joy, Marietta, Akron, Denver, Millersville, Willow Street, Strasburg, New Holland, Paradise, Refton, Quarryville, Reamstown, West Chester, Coatesville, Exton, King of Prussia, and Malvern. RG Injury Law also fights for people with disabilities in the counties of Lebanon, Philadelphia, Chester, York, Dauphin, Berks, and Montgomery.