Average age in the transport sector, what do the figures say?

Efforts to integrate young drivers into the trucking industry continue to be unsuccessful. According to a recent report from CCJ in collaboration with Lytx, the ages of truck drivers do not meet the current industry needs. Both in company-employed and leased-operator roles, the results revealed that no truck driver was younger than 34 years old, despite efforts to recruit young people aged 18 to 25.

The survey indicates that 74% of respondents belong to the age group of 55 years or older, whether they are company-employed drivers or leased owner-operators. The average age of all respondents was 59.5 years, with minimal differences between company drivers (59.2 years) and leased owner-operators (60.2 years). These figures significantly exceed the industry’s average age of 47 years, according to the American Trucking Associations.

This average contrasts with the average age of the male workforce in the U.S., which, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is 42 years, and 41.6 years for women. According to the University of Nebraska Omaha, nearly a quarter (23.87%) of workers in transportation and warehousing are over 55 years old. The survey also reveals that 71% of drivers have over 20 years of experience in the profession, reflecting a shortage of young drivers in the sector.

While drivers like Kelly Mack McCoy, aged 70, stand out for their lifelong attraction to the road and decades of service in trucking, the fact that truckers reach such advanced ages is not just about their passion for the profession, but also a collective reluctance to retire.