Hollywood in the 70s glorified the trucker with films like Convoy and Smokey and the Bandit. The films dramatized the lifestyle of a traditional trucker – the epitome of which has changed dramatically since the release of the smartphone at the turn of the century and later with the ELD mandate.
Hollywood spurred a generation of truckers that are now marching into retirement.
The industry is facing a shortage of 80,000 drivers with a primary factor being the relatively high average age of the existing workforce, according to the American Trucking Association. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association argues that there isn’t a shortage, but instead a retention issue as more than 400,000 new CDLs are issued in the U.S. every year. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has previously said that his department estimates that 300,000 drivers exit the career annually.
