Trucking Companies Driving Jobs Continue to Improve Employment Numbers

As 2013 came to a close, the long-running hiring trend in the trucking industry helped improve the unemployment situation in the U.S.

Trucking companies driving jobs are currently plentiful and the industry put 8,400 more people to work in December, which helped drop the unemployment rate to 6.7 percent. Not since the beginning of the great recession has the U.S. witnessed an unemployment rate that low. November’s seven percent rate was the lowest in five years but was surpassed by December’s numbers.

According to a recent trucking industry report, there were around 1.4 million jobs related to trucking. Looking at all jobs that are related to transportation and warehousing, the number gets much larger – 4.5 million.

Trucking companies driving jobs continue to be a force in the labor market as more Americans are spending more freely, which increases the number of items that need to be moved from production to retailers.

Thanks to a recovering economy, the trucking industry is back on its feet and in serious need of new drivers. One report in 2012 said there were around 200,000 job openings nationwide for full-time, long haul truckers. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated in 2012 that despite 1.5 million truckers on the road at that time, there could be a need for more than 330,000 additional truckers between 2010 and 2020, which represents an increase of around 20 percent.

Trucking companies driving jobs can pay well. The median salary is just under $38,000, which is about $4,000 more than the median wage for all other jobs. The top 10 percent of truckers make around $58,000 a year. One of the issues that companies have in hiring new drivers is that the certification process can be difficult for some prospective new-hires. The commercial drivers license and training course associated with it can cost as much as $6,000 and take around eight weeks to complete.

However, trucking companies know that they need qualified, safe and well-trained individuals to command their 80,000 pound trucks that traverse the same highways and interstates as tiny sports cars or SUVs full of families.

Another issue that the trucking company faces is high turnover rates, which is sometimes associated with the sudden change in lifestyle that truckers experience when they begin their career of living on the road. But for the truckers that make it a successful career, it’s exactly this type of life that attracts them to the job.

Trucking companies driving jobs are in high demand. Spirit Miller driveaway services also have a need for qualified individuals to command their fleet of trucks. For people who desire the freedom and flexibility that trucking can offer, Spirit Miller is the perfect place to get started. If you’ve got an excellent driving record and are ready to switch gears, call Spirit Miller today.