The 2014 winter weather triggered a trucking capacity problem. And, new regulatory changes establishing no less than 20 new rules, each either already in effect or in the process of enactment, will further impact capacity throughout the U.S. The new regulations include implementation of electronic logging instruments, speed-limiting and other equipment, more stringent alcohol and drug testing for drivers, and other increases in CSA restrictions. The stricter regulations promise to effectively diminish the number of available drivers and trucks, and available time for turns. Noel Perry, economist and trucking industry expert, predicts a reduction in the nation's trucking force by 700,000 drivers. This adds to the existing insufficiency in numbers of new drivers coming into the industry to replace retiring drivers and thus a massive trucker shortage.
