Though unemployment remains relatively high nationally, Texas faces a dearth of qualified truckers, spurred by high training costs and what some consider overly strict government regulations. And the state's economy is feeling the strain.
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Comments (5)
D W
so nothing could go wrong with allowing lots of untrained, sleepy truck drivers driving trucks with 1000s of pounds of cargo, on roads with 1000s of other cars right? i means it not like any body wouldn't die because of a failure would it?
tbower
This is hardly a new story. And, Ms. Sundar, regrettably shows her inexperience by neglecting to address two key issues: (1) one reason trucking companies can't find enough qualified drivers is because so many applicants can't pass drug- and alcohol-screening and background checks, which are federally mandated, and which, I would argue, is good regulation; and (2) truck driving is classified as "unskilled labor", when a good case can be made that it should be classified as "semi-skilled," which might then translate into higher wages. That goes to the core reason for the "dearth" of qualified truckers, which is low wages. Truck driving is one of the hardest jobs out there - no kidding - made worse by stiff pickup and delivery pressures, odd working hours, horrible working conditions supported by trucking companies, and the lack of respect for 40-ton vehicles by ordinary drivers on the highways. Only recently has the Texas DOT begun an advertising campaign to address that issue, as it has regarding motorcycle awareness. The two issues mentioned above could have been addressed with one sentence, each, not lengthening the report. However, it is beyond my comprehension how this piece got past an editor/producer without answering the question, "How many truck driver job openings are going unfilled?" This was sloppy journalism, made worse by the fact that it was wrapped into an aggregated or "curated" news website that should have assigned the story to its own qualified, fairly paid news reporter.
Luisa Inez Newton via Texas Tribune on Facebook
time for high speed trains
Sidney Lambert III via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Distributing reserve armed forces across the globe put a huge dent in the civilian driver pool.
Jose B. Gonzalez via Texas Tribune on Facebook
There's lots of people on public assistance - sounds like a great opportunity to train a number of these folks & help put them into a decent job.
Paying for their truck driving schooling would be many times cheaper than keeping them on assistance, not to mention they'd then be able to contribute their share to paying taxes. WIN WIN SITUATION!!