Article: Economic Rebound, Firms' Selectivity Spur Driver Shortage

08-Sep-2011 Trucking Companies' Quandary

The Ledger/TheLedger.com – August 31, 2011

CAPTION: Charles Retzer teaches the driver orientation class at CCC Transportation this week in Auburndale. There is a nationwide shortage of truck drivers because the economy is picking up and demand is up at the same time the industry is adjusting to stricter federal regulations for screening applicants.

LAKELAND | More than 100 people apply every day to Comcar, a trucking company based in Auburndale.

But from that big pool of potential truck drivers, only two or three make the cut.

For trucking companies, the slow pick-up of the economy has revived an issue left on the back burner during the recession.

There's a shortage of qualified truck drivers. It's a nationwide issue, and local companies say the shortage of qualified drivers has already hit or is coming to Polk County. Finding those drivers isn't an easy task for recruiters. They say the industry is still adjusting to stricter regulations from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for screening a driver's criminal, employment and driving history. The main difference is crash and inspection records will now follow a driver from one job to the next.

"Today, I'd say if you have a truck open you need to fill, it's not that you aren't getting applications to fill that truck, but there's a huge amount of people to exclude," said Bob Costello, chief economist for the American Trucking Association... 

Read the complete article here... http://www.theledger.com/article/20110831/NEWS/110839863?p=1&tc=pg

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