This is part 3 of a four-part series. To read the full series, click here.
Ben Brewer may not have been behind the wheel of a loaded tractor-trailer on June 25 if not for a dramatic and widening nationwide shortage of truck drivers.
According to the American Trucking Associations, by the end of this year, the trucking industry will be short 48,000 drivers. And by 2024, that shortage is expected to reach 174,000 drivers.
The shortage is a vise around the industry’s neck.
Some fleets, including Chattanooga-based Covenant Transport and U.S. Xpress, have struggled at times to put drivers in seats. And without enough drivers, company trucks have at times sat unused and unprofitable.