For a so-called crisis, the “truck driver shortage” is surprisingly recent. Before 2000, the term barely showed up in industry publications or mainstream news.
It starts making noise in the early 2000s, gains some traction between 2001 and 2005, then quietly fades into the background during the recession. But around 2012, the narrative comes back louder and far more persistent.
As you'll notice, the “shortage” narrative doesn’t just persist, it multiplies. With each passing year, articles become more frequent, more urgent, and more uniform in tone.
I've attempted to illustrate this trend by tracking the number of articles published each year. The pattern isn't subtle. It's a story that grows louder over time, regardless of whether the facts back it up.
1987
1997
1998
2001
2004
2005
2006
2007
This is the year of the most wholesome solution. Probably unrealistic for most, but wholesome.
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
For the record, I do not like this messaging.
2017
2018
2019
2019 appears to be the year skeptics began to gain traction. Before that, there were few, if any, published articles challenging the truck driver shortage narrative.
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
The truck driver shortage story has been repeated for decades, but repetition doesn’t make it accurate. It’s not a labor crisis. It’s a narrative. A fairy tale. Clickbait. Rage bait. A blatant lie.