Fleets Pressured to Raise Pay, Boost Safety to Keep Drivers

img src="/sites/default/files/images/articles/printeditiontag_new.gif" width=120 align=right>NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Trucking companies are under increasing pressure to raise driver wages, invest in safety technology and offer extensive training programs as they compete to retain drivers and attract new ones in the face of an ever-worsening labor shortage, according to motor carrier officials.

“The shortage of available truck drivers will continue to grow, and that puts tremendous pressure on drier wages,” said Steve Williams, chairman of American Trucking Associations and chief executive officer of Maverick Transportation. “We [trucking companies] have got to create an environment where individuals can be trained.”

Williams and other trucking executives spoke at the annual meeting of ATA’s National Accounting and Finance Council here last week.