Drivers Wanted – Texas Trucking Strives to Stay on the Move

April 25, 2022

(AUSTIN) — About 3.5 million truck drivers, with a mean age of 46, are on U.S. roadways, in line with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. By 2030, greater than half of present truck drivers could have handed retirement age. Within the not too long ago launched March/April problem of Fiscal Notes, the Comptroller’s workplace seems at looming labor shortages within the trucking trade.

“You might have heard the trucking trade is struggling to draw and retain staff. Massive rig vehicles are all over the place as a result of the trucking trade is a vital part of our state and nation’s financial system,” Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar stated. “Truck driving, particularly lengthy haul or ‘over the street’ trucking, is much from a straightforward job, and the coronavirus pandemic has solely created extra difficulties for each staff and employers. The outcome: Trucking firms have extraordinarily excessive worker turnover charges.”

This problem of Fiscal Notes additionally examines labor shortages within the nursing career. Based on a March 2022 NurseJournal evaluation of U.S. Bureau of Well being Workforce knowledge, Texas had the fourth-lowest nurse-to-population ratio amongst all states, with solely 9.62 nurses per 1,000 residents. The Texas Division of State Well being Providers initiatives that, in a decade, Texas will face a extreme scarcity of nurses if demand continues to outpace provide. 

This problem additionally gives an replace on the state’s vital new Broadband Growth Workplace, which is run by this company, and the significant steps being taken to shut the digital divide for residents and companies throughout the state with out high-speed web. 

Fiscal Notes furthers the Comptroller’s constitutional duty to observe the state’s financial system and estimate state authorities revenues. It has been revealed since 1975, that includes in-depth evaluation regarding state funds and authentic analysis by subject-matter consultants within the Comptroller’s workplace.

Fiscal Notes is out there on-line and might be obtained by subscribing through the Comptroller’s web site.