TCA, GRAPEVINE, TX -- The average age of the nation’s truck drivers is increasing while their amount of experience is falling.

These are some of the results released by transportation software management company Sylectus during the Truckload Carriers Association Annual Convention Monday.

Data collected over the past eight years using its transportation management software shows the average age of male drivers went up by two years, from 46 to 48 years old, while the average age of the females increased by three years, from 48 to 51 years old.

“These findings point to a strong need for progressive technology solutions to help fleets keep their drivers in light of significant retention issues,” said Sylectus in a news release.

Other key findings from the analysis include:

• Female drivers are about one to three years older than their male counterparts.

• Post-recession, the tenure of male drivers decreased to less than two years at a carrier. Similarly, the tenure of female drivers has decreased to about one year and three months. The parallel fluctuation in tenure is due in part to husband and wife teams, in which one spouse resigns after the other, according to Sylectus

• The driver pool remains largely male dominated, with 92% male drivers and just 8% female drivers.

The analysis also found that, on average, fleets will experience a fleet-wide turnover every 18 to 24 months. Combined with the all-time high shortage of qualified drivers, monitoring shifts in driver demographics has become essential for carriers’ recruitment and retention purposes.