Consumer Impact: Supply Chain Crisis 2:05
(CNN) -
The trucking industry is short of 80,000 drivers, a record number, the president and CEO of the American Trucking Association (ATA) told CNN.
That's a 30% increase from before the pandemic, when the industry was already facing a workforce shortage of 61,500 drivers.
"That's a pretty big increase," Spear added.
Many drivers are retiring, leaving the industry.
Increased consumer demand, which creates the need for more drivers, also plays a major role in the deficit.
What are the main products affected by the crisis in the supply chain?
This occurs at a time when US ports are behind, mainly because there are few trucks and drivers to pick up cargo, causing a slowdown in the supply chain.
President Biden ordered the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
However, ports still cannot work 24 hours a day because importers do not have enough drivers to move their cargo around the clock.
"24/7 trading - it's an improvement," Spear said.
"But it doesn't matter if it's a port in Los Angeles or Long Beach, or the last mile of a train delivery to a warehouse in Wichita. You're going to have to have a driver and truck move that load."
Truckers move 71% of the goods in the US economy, but they represent only 4% of the vehicles on the road, Spear said.
If nothing is done, the latest figures point the industry toward a shortage of 160,000 drivers by 2030 and the need for 1,000,000 new drivers in the next ten years, according to the ATA.
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Business leaders expect supply chain problems to continue into 2022
The bipartisan infrastructure bill awaiting action in Congress would authorize hundreds of billions of dollars for transportation, which would include workforce development for the trucking industry.
That would allow 3,000 drivers between the ages of 18-20 to receive training, allowing them to drive tractor-trailers across state lines.
Currently, drivers must be 21 years old to do so.
Spear believes that younger drivers are the key answer to the labor shortage.
"I think it's clearly the most shocking thing that could be done right now to alleviate this problem. So next year, [we] are not going to have this conversation because it will ease itself because we are investing," Spear said.
Energy and supply chain crisis: the causes 2:26
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