A shortage of truck drivers is a big part of the country’s supply chain problems. The trucking industry is short 80,000 drivers, an all-time high for the industry, according to the American Trucking Associations. The shortage, which existed pre-pandemic but has grown worse since then, comes at a critical time in the retail supply chain cycle, with U.S. ports backlogged just before the start of the holiday shopping season. Truck drivers move 71% of the US economy's goods,. “Since we last released an estimate of the shortage, there has been tremendous pressure on the driver pool,” said Bob Costello, chief economist, ATA. “Increased demand for freight, pandemic-related challenges from early retirements, closed driving schools and DMVs, and other pressures are really pushing up demand for drives and subsequently the shortage." The outlook for the next few years doesn’t offer much hope. Based on driver demographic trends, including gender and age, as well as expected freight growth the shortage could surpass 160,000 in 2030.

Oil has struggled to recover losses from last month’s broader market slump after topping $66 a barrel in January. While a brighter economic outlook has underpinned demand expectations following a better-than-expected U.S. jobs report, expanding American production remains a challenge to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, which are trying to prop up prices via output curbs. Production from shale regions will reach 6.95 million barrels a day next month, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its monthly drilling report. The Permian Basin is seen leading the way with an 80,000-barrel increase. Total American output has passed 10 million barrels a day, beating a record set in 1970. Click Read More below for additional information.

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