
16 ISE Magazine | www.iise.org/ISEmagazine
One cause for the backlog suffered by supply chains in 2021
was a shortage of over-the-road truck drivers. A report re-
leased in October by the American Trucking Association
estimated that the industry is short a record 80,000 drivers,
which could double by 2030 as more retire.
But one solution might be in the offing from those who
have already moved on from other professions: New truck-
ers over age 50. The average age of an over-the-road driver
is 46 years old, according to a 2019 report from the ATA as
reported by FreightWaves.
The average age of a new truck driver being trained is 35.
The trucking industry currently has about 2 million drivers,
according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
A new influx of older truckers could help ease the strain
on carriers going into 2022. For seniors who like the free-
dom of the open road and are looking for second careers to
fill their time, it’s an ideal fit. That describes Idaho resident
Laura Reny, 70, who has been driving since her husband
died in 2014.
“I enjoy truck driving, I tell a lot of people that it’s a good
job for women and old people, and I’m both,” Reny said.
“It was just time for me to do something else and I always
like driving,” said Ed Falls, 57, who retired after 30 years as
high school band director and started driving full time two
years ago. “I like over-the-road stuff. I like the freedom.”
For empty nesters who still want to be productive, truck-
ing is an attractive option.
“If I was younger and I still had children at home, I would
not do it,” said John Albert, 69, who started driving when
he was 55.
Prime Inc., a Springfield, Missouri-based refrigerated,
flatbed, tanker and logistics trucking company, has more
than 8,000 drivers and on the lookout for more. Each week,
more than 120 student drivers begin orientation at Prime to
earn their Class A commercial driver’s licenses.
“I do see plenty of 50-year-olds starting. For the most part,
it’s guys in their early 20s that are getting started, just what
you would expect,” said Travis Bacon, manager of driver
recruiting at Prime. “We do occasionally see 50-year-olds,
sometimes older, maybe a guy or two every week.”
Many older drivers are attracted by the money. Reny
works as a long-haul truck driver for GLS Carriers, driving
as much as 13,500 miles a month and earning about $75,000
a year. She has hauled loads through all lower 48 states and
in every weather condition, driven by the earning potential.
“Because I had no savings and Social Security is only like
$1,500 a month, with my house payment and other stuff, that
would be tough to live on,” Reny said.
Albert said he made more money in the last 14 years as a
trucker than he did the previous 30 years working in other
industries.
“The very first year I started driving I made $55,000, and
I’ve probably made a million dollars gross pay in 14 years
driving a truck,” Albert said.
the frontlinethe front line
Older truckers could help ease supply gridlock
Many drivers over 50 begin new careers on the road hauling cargo
Study: Follow-up doc visits vary little by type
Whether a patient made an appointment with their primary care physician by video, by phone or in person doesn’t seem
to affect the number of follow-up visits they sought, a Kaiser Permanente study shows. The research published Nov. 16
in JAMA Network Open found that about a quarter (25.4%) of patients with video visits had a follow-up within seven
days compared to 26% of telephone visits and 24.5% of in-person clinic visits. “This study answers the previously open
question about whether video and phone visits are less efficient because the bulk of patients might have to come to the
clinic anyway to resolve their clinical issue,” said lead author Mary Reed, a research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente
Division of Research. The researchers compared what happened during the visits and found some differences. Medication
was prescribed more often in the clinic, in 60% of visits compared with 38.6% by video and 34.7% by telephone.
Laboratory tests or imaging were ordered in 59.3% of office visits, compared with 29.2% of video visits and 27.3% of
telephone visits. The study examined 2.2 million primary care video, telephone and in-person visits scheduled online
by Kaiser Permanente members in Northern California between 2016 and mid-2018. Of those, 14% were for phone
and video visits. “Video visits offer a convenient, time-efficient way for patients to be physically examined by their
physician,” said co-author Emilie Muelly, M.D., an internal medicine physician with The Permanente Medical Group.
“In many cases virtual care is adequate to guide clinical diagnosis and management.”
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