I operate a trucking business and have a better insight into this matter than nearly anyone. There is not a shortage of capable and skilled drivers - not by any stretch of the imagination. What there is a shortage of is decent paying goods to transport. Rates are established by federally filed tariffs, and it is nearly impossible to earn a living by driving anymore. We transport freight, intermodal, and household goods. All of these commodities have horid rates right now.
Competition has the largest carriers driving rates down to nearly break-even points and in some cases below cost. It is simply a matter of maintaining cash flow with no profitability for them - they can hold out for a while doing it. Those of us who have significant overhead and ever increasing regulatory compliance costs are in a tough position - how can we pay the drivers any more when we are losing money on the loads?
I talk to hundreds of drivers a month. Most want to drive and love doing so - they just can’t afford to do so any longer and are leaving to seek other opportunities. So, what does the FMCSA and federal gov’t do? They allow foreign drivers into the nation to continue artificially depressing the rates. I’m seeing more and more Eastern European and Mexican drivers, almost as many as Americans these days. They are exacerbating the true root of the problem.
Just substitute the word “driver” with “doctor” and I think we can all see where Obamacare will lead
I've actually been presented with an opportunity to work with an FMCSA representative to do a third-party assessment of the new hours-of-service rules and their impacts on the industry. I'm mostly interested in the facility impacts in my profession (civil/highway engineering) -- e.g., the impacts of the two mandatory 1:00-5:00 AM rest periods within a 34-hour restart on overflowing highway rest areas during overnight hours.
In all my research, I've determined that the impact of staging and loading/unloading time on the hours-of-service is a serious problem for the industry. The FMCSA only allows a driver to be on duty for X hours at a time, which penalizes drivers who end up losing time at terminals and warehouses for no fault of their own. I know the industry has tried long and hard to get mandatory surcharges imposed under Federal law for delays at terminals like this, but to no avail.
Drop me a Freep-mail if you're interested in sharing any other insights in private. I'll see if I can send you a reference to an article I had written on various aspects of truck parking/rest issues related to land use and zoning a few years ago.