This blog entry was originally posted by Herb Schmidt, president of Con-way Truckload, on their Public Policy & Sustainability blog site.

The driver shortage affecting the truckload industry is certainly no surprise to anyone who's paying attention. Freight volumes are starting to come back, slow but sure, which is a good thing … but it's getting tougher and tougher to find the drivers to move it. How did we get here?

Well, a combination of events brought us to this point. First, the economic downturn put thousands of smaller, weaker carriers out of business. They simply couldn't survive because they were highly leveraged — a vulnerable place to be in a period of weak demand. Meanwhile, financially strong carriers pared down their fleets to right-size them for the environment. So it comes down to two factors: carrier fallout and conscious downsizing.

These factors, combined with a stabilizing economy, are bringing some balance back to the market — based on the new “normal,” of course. Demand is higher because there is no longer an oversupply of trucks in the market to service customers.

There are some carriers that will have a knee-jerk reaction to the uptick in demand and begin adding new trucks. But banks are no longer quick to extend loans for trucks and terminals. After all, they already have a huge inventory of assets on their books. This time the industry is smarter, more skeptical and concerned about the very real possibility of a double dip recession. So, we've got a tough combination: banks aren't lending and carriers are hesitant to borrow because they don't want to be overleveraged.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) CSA 2010 program is also coming down the road. Yes, it will improve the quality and safety of the driving force, and that's great for everyone. However, this initiative will likely reduce the pool of qualified drivers available to the industry — and quickly.

My goal is to educate shippers about how they'll be affected by all of this. There are legislative and regulatory headwinds that we've all got to face, and they're going to hit whether we are ready or not. If shippers want capacity, they would be wise to secure that capacity now. Simply put — the price to ship freight is increasing.

Smart carriers and customers will need to work more closely together than ever to weather this storm. Here's a look at some of the things we're doing to help:

• Ramping up our recruiting initiatives and developing programs to better attract and retain current drivers
• Reaching out to attract potential employees from other sectors of the job market
• Renewing our fleet — trading out older equipment and tightening up the trade cycle
• Re-instituting internal student training programs

The industry faces a number of challenges in the coming months. Finding solutions to them is important to the ongoing recovery of our economy. We'll find the answers by working collaboratively with our customers to provide the capacity and service excellence they need to stay competitive.