© 2024 Boise State Public Radio
NPR in Idaho
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Apple's latest iOS (17.4) is preventing our livestreams from playing. We suggest you download the free Boise State Public Radio app & stream us there while we work to troubleshoot the issue.
A regional collaboration of public media stations that serve the Rocky Mountain States of Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

Trucking Industry Faces Record Shortage Of Drivers

The National Guard

Driving many of the highways of the Mountain West, it's common to be a lone car surrounded by semi-trucks. But that could change. The trucking industry is facing a record shortage of drivers right now.

Bob Costello is the Chief Economist at the American Trucking Associations. He said if current trends hold,the shortage of drivers could surpass 174,000 by 2026.

"If you're short bottled water what happens to the price of bottled water? It goes up," Costello said.

In other words, consumers are paying more for products. Costello said there's been a driver shortage for a long time, but recent high demand in goods through services like Amazon Prime have widened that gap even more.

Still Costello added that changes in technology in the next decade could attract more drivers.

"Truck drivers will be able to pull onto the highway, get going and then push sort of an autopilot button, where they can sit there, sort of like a pilot in a plane," he said.

As for now, trucking companies are increasing their pay and offering generous sign-on bonuses as a way to sweeten the deal.

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, Yellowstone Public Radio in Montana, KUER in Salt Lake City and KRCC and KUNC in Colorado.

Copyright 2021 Wyoming Public Radio. To see more, visit Wyoming Public Radio.

Maggie Mullen
Maggie Mullen is a fifth generation Wyomingite, born and raised in Casper. She is currently a Masters candidate in American Studies and will defend her thesis on female body hair in contemporary American culture this May. Before graduate school, she earned her BA in English and French from the University of Wyoming. Maggie enjoys writing, cooking, her bicycle, swimming in rivers and lakes, and most any dog.

You make stories like this possible.

The biggest portion of Boise State Public Radio's funding comes from readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.

Your donation today helps make our local reporting free for our entire community.