Bare shelf blame: Truckers say they’re not responsible for supply chain issues

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ASHEVILLE, NC (WLOS)

It’s estimated that the United States is short 80,000 truck drivers – a historic high for the industry, according to the American Trucking Associations (ATA).

Many attribute the shortage to supply chain issues, but those behind the wheel of big rigs driving across the country said they are not the ones responsible.

Rico Muhammad said he got into trucking because he likes the flexible schedule and the open road.

“I’ve been driving trucks since 2004,” he said. “Today I started at about 3 am I’m trying[ing] to keep the shelves stocked and full between North Carolina and Georgia.”

After wrapping up a 12-hour shift, hauling produce from Atlanta to Asheville, Muhammad had some thoughts on the driver shortage issue impacting the nation.

“I think that there has been disparaging pay, which is why we don’t have enough drivers,” he said.

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But when it comes to supply chain issues, Muhammad says the problem is much larger.

“Free shipping and all that is all the craze right now, but somebody has to end up bearing that cost,” he said. “That’s why you start to see the spikes in prices at the grocery stores and things of that nature, because shipping cost eventually has to trickle down to the consumer.”

Another truck driver, Christopher Brown, was just beginning his shift on Wednesday evening. Brown was heading to Minnesota.

“You’ve got to love to drive,” Brown said. “That’s base one.”

Brown, a trucker for two years now, has a different opinion on the supply chain shortage.

“It’s more of a communication issue with shippers and receivers,” he said. “Orders already picked up six months earlier or six months later – paperwork problems.”

Brown also brought up the backlogs at United States ports of entry as being partly to blame.

Despite the driver shortage, TransTech, a CDL driving and testing school is not short on students eager to train for their commercial driver’s license.

“We’ve upped our numbers almost 50% per week,” said Doug Gragg, site manager for the Fletcher location.

Gragg said they currently have a waiting list. It’s tighter laws on drivers that are impacting supply chain shortages, he said.

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“Their mileage has been cut down to keep within regulations,” Gragg said. “So you need more drivers to haul the same freight, because you’re getting less mileage out of them.”

Riley Butts is currently a student at TransTech; he’s close to graduating.

“Hopefully next week we test out,” Butts said. “After that we just have to go to the DMV, get our license and we’re good to go. With your class-A CDL, you can pretty much name your own ticket.”

From classroom to field training, Gragg said anyone can earn a commercial driver’s license in as little as four weeks. The industry may be ever evolving, he said, but truckers are always driven to meet growing demand.

“There’s nothing you use on a daily basis that hasn’t been on a truck at one time or another,” Gragg said.

Currently, truck drivers must be 21 years old to cross state lines, but a proposed plan by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration could lower than age to 18. Their reasoning behind the proposal: easing supply chain shortages.

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