Freight state: driver shortages, autonomous vehicles and home delivery are forcing old dominion freight line to stay nimble.

• Author: Williams, Allison
• Position: NC TREND: Transportation

As President Trump maps out a $1 trillion infrastructure plan, it may pay off big for Thomasville-based Old Dominion Freight Line. It's a bright spot in an industry coping with a driver shortage and changing technology. OD knows about the good news/bad news scenario: The country's 10th-largest trucking company pulled in more business last year to the tune of nearly $3 billion, but profit slipped 3% partly because of higher fringe-benefit expenses. CEO David Congdon discussed challenges and opportunities facing the company in 2017.

HELP WANTED

Younger drivers aren't replacing older workers.

Truck driver has long been North Carolina's most common job. In 2015, more than 50,000 people drove heavy-duty trucks with another 24,000 behind the wheel of light trucks or delivery vehicles. Nationwide, there are 1.7 million truckers and another 1.7 million drivers of taxis, buses and delivery vehicles. It's not enough: The American Trucking Association estimates there's a shortage of about 50,000 drivers.

"The driver shortage, as an industry, is real," Congdon says. "We're in a different camp than the larger part of the industry," which requires drivers to spend more nights away from home. As a less-than-truckload carrier--Old Dominion combines orders from multiple customers on each truck--drivers typically work weekdays and are home every night. Large-truckload carriers have a turnover rate of around 80%. Old Dominion, which gave its 17,000 workers raises averaging 3% last year, has annual turnover of about 10%, Congdon says.

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