Truck Driver Demand Keeps Growing Into the Future

by Jana Ritter - Published: 3/06/2013

According to WANTED Analytics, the leading source of real-time business intelligence for the talent marketplace, more than 230,000 jobs were advertised online for truck drivers in the United States, in the past 90 days. Hiring for this occupation has increased more than 20% compared to the same 90-day period in 2012 and as demand for goods increases, more truck drivers will be needed to keep freight and the supply chain moving.

While this is excellent news for the trucking industry and a long awaited sunny forecast for the US economy, the continuing hiring demand for truck drivers is seeming to make it increasingly difficult to actually find enough potential candidates from now into the future. And why job sites such as TruckingUnlimited.com are becoming even more crucial for hiring companies.

Truck drivers can pretty much count on finding their pick of good jobs in any state they choose, but the last 90 days has shown the metropolitan areas with the highest demand for drivers were New York, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Houston. Employers in the New York metro area not only placed the most job ads of any US area, but also saw one of the highest year-over-year increases in demand. More than 6,600 ads were available online in the past 90 days, representing a 41% growth compared to the same time period last year. Of these five metro areas, Dallas had the second highest growth, up 34% from 2012.

Successful hiring will always depend on each position and the specific skills required in the job, but there other determining factors as well and location is a big one. WANTED Analytics' Hiring Scale measures and compares local job market conditions based on the hiring demand and labor supply. It reports that drivers are likely to be the most difficult-to-recruit in Bismarck, North Dakota, Hinesville Georgia, and Bowling Green (Kentucky). With increased competition from employers to attract candidates, recruiters and hiring managers in these areas are likely to also experience a longer time-to-fill. For example, the average posting period for a truck driver ad in Bowling Green, Kentucky is more than 8 weeks, compared to the national average of about 6.5 weeks.

On the other side of the Hiring Scale, truck drivers are likely to be the least difficult to recruit in Salisbury, Maryland, Morristown, Tennessee, and Sebastian-Vero Beach (Florida). These three cities score a 5 on the Hiring Scale and average a 4.5 week posting period, meaning that employers are likely to fill jobs faster and with less difficulty.

Today's demand for truck drivers presents a challenge not only in recruitment practices, but for retaining good drivers as well. A profession so integral to the function of the entire US economy must be better recognized as such.