After the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a slow progression for re-hiring and re-opening of job positions in the American trucking industry. America’s hiring boom continued its rise last month as employers added a staggering 528,000 jobs despite hectic inflation and rising tensions about an inevitable recession. July’s hiring was up from 398,000 in June as the unemployment rate slipped to 3.5%.
The U.S. economy collapsed in the first two quarters of 2022 – an informal definition of recession but most economists believe the strong jobs market and the continuing increase have kept the economy from slipping into a downturn. Economists were surprised at the boom of jobs in the trucking industry as they had expected only 250,000 new jobs this month alone.
This being said, consecutive GDP drops are one definition of a recession and inflation is aggressively roaring at a 40-year high.
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Meanwhile, the American Trucking Associations President, Chris Spear, says the trucking industry continues to show resilience despite challenges in the U.S. economy, marked by two straight quarters of negative gross domestic product and interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve that aim to slow decades-high rates of inflation.
“We’re starting to see a lot of the impact of the Federal Reserve decision to raise interest rates, and the impact it is really having”, Spear said during an appearance on Transport Topics Newsmakers (TTN). “We have 40-year highs in inflation, nearing 10%, and record highs on fuel. Even though it’s coming down, it’s still over what it was a year ago, and it’s certainly going to be impactful on our industries and our ability to serve and help climb out of this. The Fed tried to tap the brakes to slow the economy, and instead, we’re hitting the emergency brake, we’re sliding around corners. That creates a lot of uncertainty, not only in trucking but the entire economy”.
Spear also said he is watching closely the implementation of California’s Assembly Bill 5, which reclassified an estimated 70,000 drivers who were independent contractors to now be considered W-2 employees of trucking companies – affecting their benefits and income. The U.S. Supreme Court in late June declined to hear a challenge to the law.
With lighter news, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration awarded $3.1 million in grants to 19 community colleges and truck driving schools throughout the country, in order to help veterans, spouses, and active duty military members gain truck driving jobs. FMCSA awarded the grants as part of its Commercial Motor Vehicle Operator Safety Training Grant Program to help current and former members of the Armed Forces earn commercial driver licenses to become truckers, adding more growth to the already impressive job boom.
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