Also this week, the American Trucking Associations reported a decline in driver turnover rates in 2016’s first quarter, with turnover at large truckload fleets falling to an annualized rate of 89 percent, ATA reports.
The decline in driver turnover corresponds with a decline in freight movement, ATA says. “While still fairly high, the decline in turnover is reflective of the softening in the freight economy during the first quarter,” Costello said. “Should the freight economy witness an uptick during the second half of the year, we should see both turnover and demand for drivers rise as well.”
Turnover at small truckload fleets — those with $30 million or less in annual revenue — was 88 percent in the quarter. Turnover at LTL fleets remained well below that of truckload fleets, falling three points to just 8 percent, ATA says.
The decline in total trucking industry employment in June, reported July 8 by the DOL, was the fifth straight month the industry’s employment has fallen. January is the only month to see an employment uptick in the for-hire industry this year.
Trucking’s drop bucked the overall trend of the U.S. economy, which saw employment jump by nearly 300,000 jobs, pushing the country’s unemployment rate to 4.9 percent.
For-hire trucking employment in the month totaled 1.453 million, according to the DOL’s figures.
The broader transportation and warehousing sector dropped 9,400 jobs in the month, per the DOL report. Manufacturing added 14,000, and construction industry employment was flat. Retailers added just shy of 30,000 workers in the month.
