With freight demand down, the driver shortage has lessened. Heavy Duty Trucking's December issue reports that the need for good drivers is still there, and carriers are taking advantage of the situation to improve the quality of their drivers.

"There are no more quality drivers out there than there were before," says Contract Freighters Recruiting VP Kevin McKelvy. "But when the economy gets softer, and trucking companies have an opportunity, they'll do like we do -- we like to give our least-best drivers the opportunity to seek employment elsewhere."
HDT's cover story talks to fleet executives and recruiting experts, who report companies are attracting experienced drivers with the lure of stability in an uncertain economy, using lease and lease/purchase programs to convert company drivers into independent contractors to pump up a shrinking owner-operator pool, and taking a harder look at the importance of people skills in the personnel who deal with drivers regularly.
These strategies seem to be favored right now over the pay-raise trend of the past few years. Driver wages are stagnant, and some companies, such as J.B. Hunt and USA Truck, have reduced the pay package for new drivers, presumably to help defray higher operating costs. Veteran Hunt drivers were not given a pay cut. At least one company, however, Contract Freighters Inc., has raised company driver pay.

For more on recruiting in a recession, see the December issue of Heavy Duty Trucking.Click here to see if you qualify for a free subscription.