It is no secret that there are bad drivers on the road. In fact, you don’t have to look too long to spot someone speeding, driving drunk, texting while driving, ignoring traffic signs or following others too closely. When these dangerous drivers are behind the wheels of 80,000-pound commercial trucks, they put in jeopardy the lives of every other person on the road.
Unfortunately, there are many of these unsafe truck drivers out on Atlanta roads and it doesn’t look like that is a problem that will dramatically improve any time soon. The trucking industry has reportedly had trouble with attracting and keeping safe, qualified drivers which means there are many companies who end up hiring people with inadequate credentials.
This month, Truckinginfo.com ran this story about the challenges of hiring and retaining qualified drivers. The article discuss how trucking companies are trying to expand the pool of potential drivers by focusing on hiring drivers who are younger, female or veterans of the military.
However, there are a number of challenges with these recruitment efforts, from the increased financial investment to the need to change trucking specs to be more attractive to potential drivers. In many cases, companies are unable or unwilling to meet these challenges, so they continue to struggle when recruiting drivers.
The trucking industry can be very demanding. Many drivers spend long hours on the road and away from family, and while a trucker may be okay with that schedule for a short period of time, many drivers burn out fairly quickly. This leads to considerable turnover and an ongoing problem with trying to find the supply to meet the demand.
While the efforts to expand the hiring pool are certainly positive, the fact is that too many companies end up hiring unqualified drivers or drivers with a questionable history of safety because they want to save money or don’t have other options.
On the surface, it may not seem like hiring trends in the trucking industry affect regular motorists all that significantly. However, considering the fact that good truck drivers are proving hard to find, there is a good chance that there are plenty of not-so-good truckers out on the road putting the safety and well-being of other drivers in danger.
