U.S. News: Layoffs Deepen Pool of Applicants for Jobs Driving Big Rigs
Con-way Inc. used to spend $500,000 a month on advertisements seeking drivers for its fleet of 2,950 long-haul trucks. Now, the company spends less than half that amount.</br></br>For years, a shortage of drivers was the single biggest problem for the trucking industry. Con-way, J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. and other companies spent millions of dollars annually trying to attract applicants for a notoriously unappealing job that involves spending weeks on the road, sleeping in cramped cabs and showering at dirty truck stops. Annual driver turnover has routinely approached or exceeded 100%.</br></br>In the cut-throat competition to lure new drivers, companies offered everything from signing bonuses to letting drivers take their pets on the road.</br></br>Now, these trucking companies suddenly have more applicants than jobs, thanks to a recession-driven jump in applications from the ballooning ranks of the unemployed and a decline in the number of trucks on the road as freight volumes plummet. In January alone, the industry, which employs roughly 1.32 million people, lost 25,000 jobs, according to the American Trucking Associations.</br></br>Some companies say they are seeing a tripling or quadrupling of inquiries from types of people who have historically snubbed driving a truck. They include people laid off from hard-hit industries such as construction and auto-manufacturing. "I've never seen it like this in 24 years, I can tell you," said Herb Schmidt, president of Con-Way Truckload, the San Mateo, Calif., company's long-haul division.