The Weekly Report brings you updates on the most important driver recruiting metrics each and every week. In addition to updated click, search and rates, we cover a new story of the week. This week’s story – fleets are reporting a decrease in driver availability despite record pay increases for drivers.
New episodes of the Weekly Report premiere every Wednesday at 10 AM CT on our YouTube channel and blog page.
We provide the Weekly Report in numerous formats every week. Which one is right for you? Watch the latest reports on our Recruiting Resources or YouTube pages, use our Numbers at a Glance section for quick visual references, download the Weekly Report PDF (available below), read the transcript, or listen to the audio version of the October 6, 2021, Weekly Report below.
Numbers At A Glance – October 6, 2021
[one_half]
Truck Driver Searches |
| WoW: ∇ Down 11% |
|---|
| MoM: ∇ Down 13% |
| YoY: ≡ Flat |
Load Volume |
| WoW: Δ Up 2% |
|---|
Volume by Segment |
| WoW: Dry Van Δ Up 6% |
|---|
| WoW: Refrigerated Δ Up 1% |
| WoW: Flatbed ∇ Down 1% |
[/one_half]
[one_half_last]
Clicks On Driver Postings |
| WoW: ∇ Down 11% |
|---|
| MoM: ∇ Down 8% |
| YoY: ∇ Down 4% |
Truck Postings |
| WoW: Δ Up 2% |
|---|
Spot Rates |
| WoW: ∇ Down 1/2¢ per mile |
|---|
Rates by Segment |
| WoW: Dry Van Δ Up 3¢ per mile |
|---|
| WoW: Refrigerated ∇ Down 8¢ per mile |
| WoW: Flatbed ≡ Flat |
[/one_half_last]
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October 6, 2021, Driver Recruiting Insights
Would you like to have your own copy of the trucking industry data? All of the information covered in this week’s report for October 6, 2021, is available for your convenience in PDF form below.
Click the image to download October 6, 2021 Driver Recruiting Insights PDF.
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Weekly Report – October 6, 2021 Transcript
Welcome to the Weekly Report. Thanks for joining us yet again as we cover all the latest driver recruiting metrics and a brand-new story of the week. For Randall-Reilly, I’m Joshua Miller. Let’s get into the report.
THIS WEEK IN JOB BOARD SEARCHES AND CLICKS
Searches fell by 11% WoW and 13% MoM, but were still flat YoY. Clicks on driver postings saw drops of 11% WoW, 8% MoM, and 4% YoY.
While the numbers are down for both searches and clicks WoW and MoM, the numbers are very near the levels for the same week in 2020. Clicks seem to have fallen back in line with 2020’s trend. Clicks were elevated through the past three weeks with the increases coinciding with the enhanced unemployment benefits coming to an end.
This could mean that the bump we saw in job seeker interest as a result of those benefits ceasing may have come to an end.
THIS WEEK IN FREIGHT
Load postings in the truckstop.com system rose by 2% WoW and matched the volume for the week just prior to the 4th of July holiday. Dry van postings increased by 6%, while refrigerated saw an increase of 1%, and flatbed fell by 1% WoW.
Truck availability on the spot market rose by 2% WoW as spot rates dipped by ½¢. Dry van rates were actually up by 3¢ WoW, while refrigerated rates dropped by 8¢, and flatbed rates well … they remained flat WoW.
NOW FOR THE STORY OF THE WEEK
Motor carriers have reported an unexpected trend of their drivers opting to work less despite receiving record setting pay increases. A CCJ survey conducted in September revealed that 83% of fleets increased driver pay in 2021, but 29% actually saw a driver availability decrease in the summer.
And among fleets with more than 500 trucks, 57% have seen a driver availability decrease, while only 14% saw an increase.
It would seem that drivers are converting those increased earnings into more time off. Despite driver pay being regularly cited as a major sticking point this recent trend would seem to indicate that it was home time and not driver pay that drivers were actually the most dissatisfied with.
One large carrier has actually seen a nearly 10% driver availability drop, which is course impacting mileage and load counts.
It is important to remember that this decrease in availability doesn’t necessarily mean that increasing wages was the wrong move for carriers. Without those pay raises, many unsatisfied drivers would have likely looked for driving jobs with more home time or perhaps even jobs in other industries that offer a better work-home life balance.
And that does it for the story of the week and our report. We hope this info has been useful to you and look forward to seeing you again next Wednesday morning for another all-new Weekly Report. Until then, have a great week everybody.
