The Weekly Report brings you updates on the most important driver recruiting metrics each and every week. In addition to updated click, search and spot rates, we cover a new story of the week. This week’s story – The ongoing equipment shortages may have the potential to dampen the current hiring boom in the trucking industry.
New episodes of the Weekly Report premiere every Wednesday at 10 AM CT on our YouTube channel and blog page.
We provide the Weekly Report in numerous formats every week. Which one is right for you? Watch the latest reports on our Recruiting Resources or YouTube pages, use our Numbers at a Glance section for quick visual references, download the Weekly Report PDF (available below), read the transcript, or listen to the audio version of the November 10, 2021, Weekly Report below.
Numbers At A Glance – November 10, 2021
[one_half]
Spot Rates |
| WoW: Δ Up 1¢ per mile |
|---|
Rates by Segment |
| WoW: Dry Van ∇ Down 4¢ per mile |
|---|
| WoW: Refrigerated Δ Up 12¢ per mile |
| WoW: Flatbed ∇ Down1¢ per mile |
Load Volume |
| WoW: ∇ Down 3% |
|---|
Volume by Segment |
| WoW: Dry Van ∇ Down 8% |
|---|
| WoW: Refrigerated Δ Up 13% |
| WoW: Flatbed ∇ Down 5% |
[/one_half]
[one_half_last]
Truck Postings |
| WoW: ≡ Flat |
|---|
Truck Driver Searches |
| WoW: Δ Up 8% |
|---|
| MoM: ∇ Down 9% |
| YoY: ∇ Down 18% |
Clicks On Driver Postings |
| WoW: Δ Up 9% |
|---|
| MoM: Δ Up 1% |
| YoY: Δ Up 62% |
[/one_half_last]
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November 10, 2021, Driver Recruiting Insights
Would you like to have your own copy of the trucking industry data? All of the information covered in this week’s report for November 10, 2021, is available for your convenience in PDF form below.
Click the image to download November 10, 2021 Driver Recruiting Insights PDF.
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Weekly Report – November 10, 2021 Transcript
Hello everyone and welcome to the November 10th edition of the Weekly Report. Each week we take a look back to help you move forward. This week’s report will be covering all the latest numbers and rates from last week. For Randall-Reilly, I’m Joshua Miller. Without further delay, let’s get into it.
THIS WEEK IN JOB BOARD SEARCHES AND CLICKS
Truck driver searches were up 8% WoW, but down 9% MoM, and 18% YoY. Meanwhile clicks on truck driver postings saw gains across the board. There were increases of 9% WoW, 1% MoM, and 62% YoY.
After last week’s dip the volume in clicks rebounded; and once again most of the change in numbers was due to the fluctuation in clicks on trainee/inexperienced driver job postings. So, the overall click rate was up due to that increase of activity, but we did see a slight drop of 1% for clicks on postings of experienced drivers.
THIS WEEK IN FREIGHT
Overall load postings in the Truckstop.com system fell by 3%. And while dry van postings declined by 8%, and flatbed postings were down 5%, refrigerated load postings increased by 13% WoW.
The load levels for refrigerated were about 6% below its record level with just two weeks to go before Thanksgiving. It’s also worth noting that dry van volume typically sees gains this time of year. It is possible the decline is a reflection of the ongoing supply chain disruptions as we inch closer to the all-important Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales dates.
Truck availability remained flat from the previous week, but this is primarily because of a rather large gain in flatbed truck availability that offset the declines recorded in the dry van and refrigerated trucking segments.
This all comes as the refrigerated load-to-truck ratio jumped to a record high, while the flatbed load-to-truck ratio fell to its lowest level in almost a year.
Spot rates rose by 1¢ per mile WoW, while both dry van and flatbed rates declined. Dry van was down by 4¢ and flatbed was down by 1¢ … but refrigerated rates shot up by a full 12¢ per mile WoW.
STORY OF THE WEEK
Truck transportation job numbers are on the rise, this according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In fact, they are actually nearing the 2019 pre-pandemic levels. Total employment in the truck transportation sector made solid gains for the fifth consecutive month.
Seasonally adjusted employment increased by 7,900 in October from September (though when not adjusted for seasonality the gains were closer to 11,000.) And jobs in truck transportation are running just 9,100 jobs less than they were two years ago in October of 2019. Those numbers are pretty significant as back in February of this year there were 51,700 fewer jobs than in February of 2019; so as you can see things are trending in a positive direction.
Due to reallocation of drivers to local carriers, the shortfall for long-distance drivers is more pronounced. Over the course of the last year or so, capacity has clearly shifted toward the owner-operator segment. Accounting for growth in the owner-op segment – which is not included in the BLS numbers – industry employment is actually … ready for this … slightly above where it stood on the eve of the pandemic.
Some pretty good news there right? But … one thing to remember are those pesky equipment shortages. The shortage of needed equipment could have the potential to impact hiring plans. The new truck and trailer production backlogs continue to lengthen, and it is becoming increasing understandable for trucking companies to begin pushing their hiring plans a little further out into the future.
That’s it for this week’s report. We look forward to you joining us next Wednesday for an all-new report when we’ll cover all the latest numbers, and rates, as well as a new story of the week. Until then, have a great week everybody.
