Randy Blanks spent thirty years in the printing industry until his job evaporated in the current recession. After spending a year looking for work with no results, he decided to drive big rigs hauling freight across the country. Now 52, Blanks has enrolled at a truck driving school, joining many thousands of people across the country whose jobs have been outsourced, downsized, or trimmed during the recession and have looked to other industries to make money. For $3,995, these driving schools provide students with a Class A commercial driver’s license and access to recruiters in an industry that traditionally can’t get enough drivers.
Truck driving schools across the country have all the students they can handle as thousands of unemployed people are attracted to the trucking industry and the possibility of earning a livable wage.
“Making $38,000 to $40,000 a year is not bad for an entry-level person,” said John Frey, who oversees recruiting for Werner Enterprises, a Nebraska-based trucking and freight company.
The web site for the American Trucking Association claims that the freight industry will need 111,000 truck drivers by 2014 to overcome a forecasted shortage. “The shortage is not due to lack of interest, just basic economics,” says the Web site. “The demand for professional truck drivers is growing faster than the number of new drivers entering the field.”
At this point, it is unknown whether the current influx of new drivers into the field will help companies providing freight services overcome expected delays in deliveries and higher delivery costs. In addition to the opportunity to start over and enjoy relatively stable employment, many people who drive trucks for larger freight companies enjoy excellent benefits and are more inclined to indulge the wishes of driver who don’t want to be on the road for weeks at a time.
Officials in the trucking industry say there has been a huge influx of people with college degrees becoming truck drivers. “A lot of pilots have come through this year, as well as people with MBAs,” one said.
Blanks, whose lives in Fruitvale, Texas, claims he’s not getting into the trucking business to get rich. His wife’s a registered nurse and their three kids are grown. His primary reason was to get off the unemployment rolls and prove that he could make a living driving a truck. Another motivation was that the freight company who hired him promised that he would be home 46 weekends every year.
The new interest in driving freight trucks has been a boon for trucking companies who have been desperate for new drivers. With a larger pool of new drivers to choose from, they can be selective of who they hire for the first time in recent memory. However, their optimism is tempered by the realities of the business. “I don’t know how long these career changes will stick,” one trucking official said. “If you’re a laid-off plumber who gets into trucking, I’m betting you get back into the industry when it picks up.”
