Rising pay for truckers is reshaping the industry

The shortage of truck drivers in the U.S. is driving salaries higher, with gains up to 12 percent over the past year.
Average pay for long-haul truckers jumped 17 percent since the end of 2013 to a record average of $57,000 in 2015, according to the National Transportation Institute. The surge comes as U.S. employment costs overall are up just 2 percent and average weekly earnings are rising only 2.2 percent.

The shortage of truck drivers has grown to nearly 48,000 and could expand further due to a combination of industry growth and a retiring workforce, according to the American Trucking Associations' Truck Driver Shortage Analysis for 2015.
A booming economy and a strong dollar have caused increased demand for imported goods that must be transported via the $700 billion trucking industry. Trucking represents 68.8 percent of tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation. The American Trucking Associations reported that the all-time high of tonnage was reached in January of this year.