Chart of the Month: Truck driver age demographics

Much of the current driver shortage can be attributed to retirement: The average age of today’s truck driver is 49 years old and many have begun to hang up their keys for good.¹ The latest estimate from the American Trucking Associations calls for 890,000 drivers through 2025 — which may seem like an ambitious goal, but given the widening gap between empty seats and the available pool of personnel to fill them, fleets are now adopting modern technologies to attract and retain younger employees. Over the next several years, millennials, who account for more than half of the American workforce, will present a tremendous opportunity for the transportation industry to attract this next generation of drivers and fill the necessary labor gap.

SOURCES: *American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI); 1 Driver Solutions’ State of Trucking 2017