Truck driver shortage impacting Green Country businesses, families
TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) — A shortage of truck drivers could be adding to the reason you're paying more for the things you love, and it's a problem impacting local businesses and families.
At Melton Truck Lines, the company has dozens of trucks sitting at a standstill. It's missing workers and missing out on a lot of money.
Melton trucks carry heavy loads, steel and big equipment, but the shortage of drivers is a heavy burden even for this company to bear.
"Since the start of COVID, we are down over 200 drivers at the beginning of the pandemic, when there was a lot of uncertainty, some of our older drivers chose to get off the road," said Robert Ragan with Melton Truck Lines.
Then, Ragan says some younger workers stopped working, too, with unemployment benefits. Now, they're in more demand and turning down jobs.
"We do our best to accommodate every shipper that makes a request, but unfortunately, we have to turn down as many loads per day that we actually haul," said Ragan.
Truck driving schools, like CDLU of Oklahoma, say they’re getting calls for their graduating students daily.
"A couple of weeks ago, I got a call from one company out of state that at that moment they were looking for 57 drivers. I get calls every week from local companies around northeast Oklahoma for companies looking for drivers," said David Miller with CDLU of Oklahoma.
Melton is now partnering with a truck driving school to recruit more drivers and offer more money, encouraging drivers to get behind the wheel.
"Over the last 10 months, we have had three significant driver pay increases to where the average Melton driver will now make an excess of $75,000, however, we still have not been able to add capacity back to the business," Ragan said.
The company is doing everything it can to get these $135,000 trucks back on the road, and it knows it's going to take more than money.
The industry also needs mechanics to keep both trucks and drivers on the road.
