>“You can go buy all the trucks you want, but try and find (quality) drivers who you can trust, who won't tear up equipment, get into accidents, cost innocent lives.
When you do they will cost $180-240k/yr in total compensation.”
My guess is rather than pay for qualified drivers, larger companies will continue to double-down on all of the in-cab tech that enables them to micromanage their drivers the way they want to, and continue paying them around $50-60k/year.
I see where spot rates will average $11-13/mile within the next 12 months. (My estimations based on market patterns and historical data adjusted for todays inflation plus factoring in the artificial rate suppression). If industrials and infrastructure remain strong this is all but certain.
There are still several hundred thousand foreign /unqualified drivers moving freight today, but that remaining capacity will continue to dry up.
There may be a minimal "price out of the market" effect for carriers short term but the reality is, after all the years and propaganda of a "truck driver shortage", ironically, there is now going to be a REAL truck driver shortage. And a big one..
You can go buy all the trucks you want, but try and find (quality) drivers who you can trust, who won't tear up equipment, get into accidents, cost innocent lives.
When you do they will cost $180-240k/yr in total compensation. The cost of hiring inexperienced drivers is 3 incendents on your record plus pay and benefits. The cost of incendents now is potentially millions per occurrence, even if you're the shipper moving your own freight. Salvation will eventually come from autonomous trucks but that's a little ways off yet and brings it own set of challenges.
Buckle up. We goin fo a ride!