PHILADELPHIA — The men gathered in front of the BZ Ballaz Club barbershop in a gritty, mostly Hispanic section of north Philadelphia were listening intently as Kimberly Cromer made her pitch for a career in long-haul trucking.
Faced with what trucking experts describe as the worst labor shortage in the industry's history, recruiters like Ms. Cromer are canvassing cities and holding job fairs to entice new drivers.
With predictions from the association that the current shortage of 20,000 drivers will grow nearly fivefold within a decade, trucking companies are offering generous 401(k), stock option and health care packages to new recruits and cash bonuses and prizes to drivers who refer viable candidates.
Since more than three-quarters of all goods in the United States are shipped by truck, it is only a matter of time, Mr. Swain said, before the shortage causes delays in products hitting the shelves and leads to consumer price increases because of rising transportation costs.
Despite the 7.4 million Americans out of work as of last December, and the recent round of layoffs in manufacturing industries, trucking has struggled to find workers in part because the lifestyle is so grueling.
To meet the growing need, some carriers are turning to new sources of labor like women, retirees and especially Hispanics.
"The industry realizes that Hispanics are the fastest growing population in the country, and they're eager to tap into them," said Ms. Cromer, who works for Congreso de Latinos Unidos, a community group in Philadelphia that joined forces in 2004 with the Truckload Carriers Association to begin recruiting more Hispanics into long-haul trucking.
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