He used to get lonely when he was on the road.
He wouldn't talk to anyone until his wife got off work. He would call her, a couple of relatives, and occasionally a friend.
The long stretches away from home and family have made the job less than coveted, according to Insider's Grace Dean.
Now, he works as a local truck driver. He travels between Louisiana, Florida, and his home state of Alabama.
80,000 more drivers are needed by the trucking industry as workers quit their jobs. According to the American Trucking Associations, that is a historic high. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were over 1.5 million people working in truck transportation in February, a jump from the previous year, but not enough to plug the shortage. The shortage could grow to over 160,000 by the year 2030.
The trucking industry was already in a state of crisis when the swine flu hit, as Insider's Rachel Premack reported in 2019.
Supply chains are bogged down by shortages of truck drivers. The fix may be rethinking what wages and benefits look like for the demanding role.
"If you ask any trucker, it's kind of like a broken record," said Atkins, who has been in the industry for three years.
He joined the military when he was 18. He wanted a fresh start after serving until he was 22.
He said that his oldest brother had been a truck driver for about six to eight years.
He was told by his brother to use his GI bill to get a commercial driving license. The cost of getting a driver's license varies by state. In New York, the average tuition rate for a commercial driver's license school is over $13,000. The average tuition cost in Alabama is $3,950.
It is definitely not what I expected when I got into it.
It was one of the worst jobs in trucking, because you might have to drive the truck for two to three hours a day.
He has tried different types of cargo. Most of his experience is in flatbed and heavy hauling, but right now he is trying his hand at car hauling.
He said that it has been a slow progression to get where he is now.
He can open up a job site, type in a truck driving job, and see a million ads that promise $100,000 to $120,000 a year.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median pay for heavy and tractor-trailer drivers was $47,130 in 2020.
Semuels wrote a piece for Time magazine that argued that there was no shortage of actual truckers, but a retention issue stemming from the deregulation of the industry. New drivers find that the job pays less than they thought, and that working conditions in the industry are terrible.
Why would I give up what I am doing to become a truck driver, live out of my truck for three weeks, and only make $50,000 a year when there are other jobs where you can do that?
A good starting wage for a truck driver is $70,000 a year. He said that the biggest thing is that it is hard to get people into the industry, and it is not going to change unless there is a change in pay.
People who are in their 30s, 40s, or 50s are more likely to get into trucking.
Those drivers see it as a way out. Others may fall into it because they have a family member or friend who is a truck driver.
It is not people's first choice. It is usually a last resort.
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