Waste Haulers Seek Employees to Fill Ample Amount of Driver Positions

Waste collection isn't glamorous work, but that doesn't mean it's not good work.

That is the message the waste industry wants to send, as companies are faced with a national truck driver shortage that shows no signs of improving any time soon. In response to this looming crisis, companies and trade associations have stepped up efforts to recruit talent by finding new ways to reframe a job that most people have written off — or not yet considered.

Until this message is spread, the pool of qualified applicants with a commercial driver's license (CDL) will continue to shrink. The American Trucking Association (ATA) said this shortage has more than doubled since 2011. Their latest annual report said the U.S. was short approximately 48,000 drivers in 2015 and estimated that the number will likely be much higher this year.