Top 8 Stats On The Driver Shortage

By Rachel Trindade, Teletrac Navman

Truckers drive the American economy by holding supply chains together and hauling 70 percent of the nation's freight—about 10.5 billion tons annually.  However, the trucking industry is confronting a driver shortage with many contributing factors making it difficult to find, hire, and retain drivers.

Here are some numbers behind the shortage fleets are facing today:

The driver shortage

• According to the ATA, the industry faced a shortage of nearly 50,000 drivers in 2017.
• If the trend continues at its current pace, the industry could be short by more than 174,000 drivers by 2026.
• At the start of 2018, there was only one truck available for every load needing to be shipped – the lowest ratio since 2005.