Pick up a 4-year-old copy of The Evening News and browse through the classified advertisements. Chances are you’ll see plenty of ads with the heading: “Drivers Wanted.”

Now flip to the back of today’s edition. You may see a few, but the chances aren’t good.

That’s because as economic times have worsened, a shortage of truck drivers in the United States has turned into an abundance.

“For years, [a lack of] drivers had been our No. 1 company problem,” said David Summitt, owner of Clarksville-based Summitt Trucking LLC. He said finding quality and qualified drivers was the challenge.

However, he added, that in “this latest downturn, we had more drivers than we knew what to do with.”

Truck-driving schools are getting applications from those with professional skills. And The American Trucking Association — which represents carriers across the country — says a 20,000-trucker shortage reported in 2005 is correcting itself now because fewer jobs are available.



Tough jobs to fill

Summitt recalls advice that his father gave him when he was young: If he and his mother were ever stuck on the roadside, flag down a trucker to help.

Things have changed since then. Nowadays, he admits, many people believe that’s likely the last thing they want to do because they have no idea what kind of person is behind that large wheel.

Pay and quality of life has kept many out of the profession over the years, he said.

“Driving a truck is not a glamorous job,” Summitt said.

It involves sitting in a truck, away from home, typically alone, for days at a time. Also, new restrictions on drivers in the last few years — which limit how far they can travel and how long they can idle their vehicles — have made the job even tougher.

“It’s easier to get a job locally and spend time with my family,” Summitt said.

Truck drivers that stay local are often those who’ve earned their stripes, said Tom Hruban, vice president and general manager of the Truck Driver Institute. Most of the time, companies are looking for long-haul drivers.

“That lifestyle doesn’t fit everyone,” Hruban said.

Summitt’s company — one of the largest trucking firms in the Louisville area with more than 300 vehicles in its fleet — has shed jobs. Last year, more than 550 were employed there, he said. Now it’s closer to 400, leaving qualified drivers in the local market without a job.

The company recently filed for bankruptcy protection after a finance company providing Summitt with a line of credit got out of the market. Summitt has since secured another line of credit to continue its operations.

And his company isn’t alone.

More than 4,000 jobs in the Louisville Metropolitan Statistical Area’s transportation and utilities sector were lost from January 2008 to January 2009, according to Uric Dufrene, Sanders chair for the Indiana University Southeast business department in New Albany. The utilities subsector is a lot more stable than the transportation subsector, he said, so the bulk of those losses likely were in transportation. Most of those came in the later half of 2008.



More interest

At the same time, the job market is drying up for experienced truckers, workers from other fields — out of jobs themselves — are investigating trucking schools.

“Are we seeing people we may not have seen in other economies? Absolutely,” said Hruban.

The Truck Driver Institute, based in Indianapolis, has 15 locations in 10 states, including one in Sellersburg.

People who had previously worked in construction are looking for work as truckers, as are skilled laborers such as electricians and plumbers, Hruban said.

The national carriers — such as Swift Transportation Corp. or Werner Enterprises — have terminals across the country and they are hiring drivers, Hruban explained.

“Regardless of where you live, you can work for one of these carriers,” he said. “But just like other industries, once they’re flooded with applications, they can be more selective.”

Hruban said that even before the recession sunk in, the institute had consistent inquiries. Although, he said, as the credit market has dried up, many people are having a difficult time getting financing for the training. Three-week classes at the institute cost $6,000.



National trends

A study commissioned by The American Trucking Association found in 2005 that a shortage of 20,000 truck drivers had become a limiting factor in the operations of many companies.

At the time, it estimated that the shortage would grow to 100,000 by 2015.

“There certainly is not the shortage there used to be,” said Clayton Boyce, vice president of public affairs for the association. “There are jobs, people being hired.”

However, he said, companies are more likely to hire experienced drivers than someone coming directly out of trucking schools.

The recession has hit the industry. In 2008, 3,065 trucking companies went bankrupt. That number includes only those with five or more trucks.

Cargo tonnage rose 3 percent from December 2008 to January 2009. However, it’s down more than 12 percent than a year earlier, Boyce noted.