Why are so many truckers quitting?

Question

Zippia Team · Accepted Answer

Many truckers are quitting because of low pay combined with difficult working conditions. Truck drivers can spend days at a time behind the wheel of their truck, spending nights in gas station parking lots, or even on the side of the road. During this time, they don't get to see their friends and family or enjoy simply being at home.

This, plus the physical toll of no exercise, poor diet, and an extended period of no bathroom breaks, makes truck driving a difficult job, to say the least. While many truck drivers make a decent living, it often isn't enough to make the difficult aspects of the job worth it, and they quit when it gets to be too much.

The trucking industry has a turnover rate that hovers around 90%, which means that a year from today, 90% of currently employed truck drivers won't be in those jobs anymore. The truck driver shortage isn't necessarily a case of too few drivers: It's that too many are leaving.