Companies around US continue to struggle amid truck driver shortage, now offering incentives

Companies around the country are struggling to find professional truck drivers, and the driver shortage is only expected to get worse.

The American Trucking Association estimates the industry is 80,000 drivers short.

"We are losing more drivers than are entering the industry," said Centerline Drivers Managing Director Shane Keller, who has seen recent declines in his company.

As the delivery shipping crisis continues to plague the U.S., 50 percent of employers are having a difficult time finding drivers.

"The challenges we're facing now, and I think what has really been amplified through the COVID pandemic, is there is a nationwide shortage of professional truck drivers," added Keller.

And for several reasons such as retirement and the pandemic. The median age for truckers is around 51-52 years old.

Companies, like Centerline Drivers are now offering incentives like sign-on bonuses, and performance bonuses for safety and miles driven.

Drivers need a commercial license to pull a big rig, which Modesto resident, and trucker, Ghery Barron has had for 43 years.

"We've got a plant out of Wasco that they have five trucks there," said Barron. "They had to ship me down there to help them out because the five trucks that were, there was only one driver showing up."

That meant the company was only able to make two of their deliveries instead of their normal five.

But there are opportunities rolling out for anyone who wants to change their unemployed status or jump ship from their current situation, and it could just mean hopping into a cab.

"This is going to sound cliché but the drivers are really in the driver's seat of their career opportunities," said Keller.