An article on BusinessInsider.com.au recently explored the phenomenon of declining truck driver salaries, one of the reasons the industry is struggling to attract new talent.

One American truck driver Lenny Oppelaar has been driving a truck since 1977 and since then his salary has decreased.  He started with a salary of $US30 per hour in today’s dollars, having just graduated from high school.

Now the experienced truck driver for one of the world’s largest logistics companies earns around $US25 per hour after taxes.

Although this is good for the industry compared to what others are earning in the same job (he earns about twice as much as other truck drivers in the nation), his salary has decreased as his experience increased.

The writer said that blue collar jobs have lost status, pay and working conditions over the past few decades, one of the reasons is possibly to offer consumers better value at the cost of the truck driver.

To read some of the other theories that may be behind the decline visit  https://www.businessinsider.com.au/truck-driver-salary-decrease-pay-cut-2018-9