For many businesses, this past year has been a bit of a bust. With the economy going up and down in different areas, it’s hard to stay above the game. However, despite all the economic struggles, the trucking industry has prevailed!

Sure, trucking like any other industry had it’s hard times in the recession, bottoming out in May 2010, but since then it has been on the up and up, adding jobs, adding freight and adding up those miles. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the trucking industry added 5,000 payroll jobs in the month of January of this year. After these additions, the total number of jobs on the trucking payroll jumped to 1.375 million!

So yes, truck driving jobs are on the rise, but do you know why that is? What is it about the economy that affects trucking? Well, there are a number of factors such as politics, volume, prices, and demand. Each of these areas has a different and vital role to how well the transportation industry functions. Politics can make or break some drivers by how they place their rules, regulations, and restrictions. If there are too many restrictions, then it becomes difficult to just be able to get out there and drive.

Volume has an impact because if there aren’t enough items to haul, there aren’t many truckers needed to haul the products. Demand goes hand in hand with volume. Often when volume goes down, it is because demand for that product is down. But this is not always the case as volume may be low because there is scarcity in a product, even though it may be in great demand.

Demand is in many ways trucking’s saving grace as even during economic struggles, people will still be going to the store to buy food, clothes, and everything else under the sun. As long as people buy, truckers will drive. So, yes, there is always a need for truck drivers. The only thing that changes is how many truck drivers are needed.

You see, as times get tougher, people try to make things last as long as possible, and they more readily find they can do without certain items. As this happens, stores don’t need to stock their shelves more often and they don’t need to purchase as large a volume of supplies. And, as stated before, as the demand for volume goes down, the need for more truck drivers goes down.

So now knowing how the economic trends along with the trucking industry, we can see that as the economy rises, the need for truck drivers rise with it. Right now, the demand for drivers is extremely high. Indeed, it’s so high that trucking companies are having a hard time filling all the trucks they need to.

Trucking is on the rise, my friends. It’s a booming industry and the future is looking bright. If you’re looking for a steady job with a stable income, right now would be the perfect time to get started on a career in trucking.