The trucking industry in North Carolina appears oversaturated with jobs for people who do not want them.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the U.S. gained about 4,500 new employees nationally in the trucking industry between October and November of this year. This brings the total number of payroll truck drivers in the U.S. close to 1.5 million.

The amount of jobs available for truck drivers in North Carolina is growing at more than double the rate of people employed as truck drivers.

Over the period of 2014 to 2017, there was a 16.4 percent increase in trucking jobs while employment increased a 6.7 percent.

In 2017, the average weekly wage for truck drivers in North Carolina was $908, up 9 percent from $833 in 2014.

However, wages and employment opportunities vary depending on the region. Although the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area employs the most truckers, the highest wages for drivers can be found in central North Carolina counties, which could be contributed to the more dangerous conditions these drivers face by spending more time driving through a mountain range.

In the Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), wages for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers have risen slightly over the past two years, but employment numbers in that occupation have been static or decreasing since 2014.

In 2017, the average annual wage for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in the area was $39,470, according to a May 2017 BLS report.

In 2016, the average annual wage was slightly lower at $37,440.

The report shows data for the Wilmington MSA, which includes New Hanover and Pender counties.

The May 2017 report estimates that there were 1,110 people employed in the heavy and tractor-trailer truck driver occupation in the Wilmington area, and that number was the same for May 2016.

In May 2015, the number employed in the occupation was 1,180, down from May 2014's figure of 1,470.

A more detailed breakdown of truck driving wages by North Carolina county can be found here.
 

Harder to get applicants

Catherine Ezzell is the third generation to manage her family-owned trucking business.

Her grandfather James A. Ezzell founded Ezzell Trucking in 1951 in Harrells, North Carolina. The company has over 200 employees at its seven locations across the state and one Virginia location.

Catherine Ezzell earned her MBA at Wake Forest University and has led the human resources department of the company for the past five years. The company’s website home page includes a big “apply today” button.

“In the time I’ve been here, it’s been harder and harder to get applicants, so we have had to change our hiring practices,” she said.

Ezzell said her theories regarding why interest in the trucking industry is down are related to changing job expectations from workers and that younger workers can find lucrative careers outside the industry that require less physical labor and training.

Enrollment in commercial driving courses at community colleges is dropping nationwide.

The situation is a little better in Wilmington, where Cape Fear Community College had 55 student enrollments for its truck driver training class in 2017 and 67 student enrollments in 2018, Sonya Johnson, director of marketing and communications at CFCC, said. 

CFCC does have restrictions on who can enroll in truck driving training classes which limits enrollments.

At CFCC, students with violations on their records like DUI/DWI, license suspension, leaving the scene of an accident, and careless and reckless driving, are not allowed to enter its program.

“When an individual is 18, they can apply and receive a Class A commercial driver’s license, but they cannot cross state lines until they are 21,” Ezzell said. “So an 18-year-old cannot make a huge salary, so that’s three years where they’re just gonna go find another job.”

She said safety standards have remained high, but experience requirements have dropped to allow for a bigger applicant pool.

Ezzell said in the past, two years of tractor trailer driving experience was required to drive for Ezzell Trucking, but that requirement was changed to only one year around 2010.

Requirements have dropped even more over the past year.

“A more recent change is that, with some qualifiers, someone can come aboard with six months experience if they graduated from a trucking school with 250 hours of training,” Ezzell said.

To offset its relaxed hiring standards, Ezzell Trucking has upped its in-house training.

“People can now receive more specific training at our company after they are already hired,” she said.

In addition to reducing its qualifications, Ezzell Trucking began offering more competitive healthcare packages to attract applicants and retain workers. The company provides free dental and vision insurance packages in addition to Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance.

Ezzell said she has also seen an uptick in female drivers at the company in recent years, but the workforce remains male dominated.

“I think the local driving jobs are enticing women to become drivers, too,” Ezzell said. “Most of our jobs aren’t the long distance and time-consuming jobs people often associate with trucking.”

“I think these demographics will continue to change as the industry adjusts to the changing times,” she said.

This story is from the North Carolina Business News Wire, a service of the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Media and Journalism. Greater Wilmington Business Journal staff writer Johanna Cano contributed to this report.