Central Minnesota is a manufacturing stronghold, with several global manufacturing firms operating there.
The region is especially well known for its expertise in food processing, printing, furniture manufacturing, appliances, machinery and heavy equipment manufacturing.
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8/3/2018 4:00:00 PM
Luke Greiner
Truck driving is not only a career in high demand, it’s also incredibly important. Virtually every facet of our life depends on truck drivers to transport goods. And while autonomous vehicles currently exist, truck driving occupations aren’t disappearing anytime soon.
According to DEED’s Job Vacancy Survey, employers in Central Minnesota reported an average of 433 heavy and tractor-trailer truck driver openings in 2017, the largest number ever recorded (dating back to 2001). The job vacancy rate for truck drivers was nearly double the overall rate, which means that a large number of jobs are currently unfilled relative to the amount of employment in the heavy and tractor-trailer truck driving occupation.
At $22.04 per hour, the median wage offer for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers increased 35 percent from 2010 to 2017, also the result of increasing demand for drivers. Wage offers grew faster than the overall increase for job openings, which increased 27 percent. The dip in wage offers for openings in 2015 and 2016 appear to be the result of a large number of part-time and temporary openings (Figure 1).
The large numbers of openings aren’t just from the truck transportation industry replacing older drivers who are leaving the labor force. The industry is also expanding at a healthy pace. Data from DEED’s Quarterly Census of Employment & Wages program show that from 2007 to 2017, the truck transportation industry increased employment at a faster rate than the regional economy in all but two years, meaning that the industry is growing and in need of more drivers. Roughly 60 percent of jobs in the truck transportation industry are heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers.
Looking to the future, heavy and tractor-trailer truck driver jobs are projected to grow by 10.8 percent in Central Minnesota, more than the overall employment growth across all occupations. Though the future of truck driving might look different, the current demand and opportunity for aspiring drivers is favorable in the area and across the state.
Contact Luke Greiner at 320-308-5378.
