Truckers are often forced to sleep and eat in their rig's cabins at truck stops while on the road, but now many have a better option — one that the industry hopes will keep more drivers on the asphalt longer.
Companies like Legacy Sleepers and Bolt, both based in Indiana, manufacture mobile living spaces that can be affixed to trucks so that those who haul goods across the country for a living can do so comfortably — and in style.
Even though the price tag for a Bolt deluxe sleeper is a steep $240,000, company president Brian Callan said business is on a roll.
Trucking companies "are finding that basically this package that we have here is something to attract and retain drivers," he said.
And the industry is taking notice — because the demand for truckers is skyrocketing.
The American Trucking Association estimates that there is a shortage of about 35,000 to 40,000 drivers and, in 10 years, the industry will need 1 million new drivers as a generation of truckers retires.
“Due to growing freight volumes, regulatory pressures and normal attrition, we expect the problem to get worse in the near term as the industry works to find solutions to the shortage," said ATA chief economist Bob Costello.
Drivers Linda and Bob Caffee are a testament to the fact that the sleepers might be the solution to keeping more people on the road for longer.
The couple drives nearly 145,000 miles each year — which equates to crossing the country about 50 times — hauling up to 14,000 pounds of cargo. Linda Caffee said the time traveling in their amenity-loaded truck is a pleasure.
"People say, 'When are you guys going to retire?' And I can't even imagine it. We're having so much fun now," said Linda Caffee.
"I watch the sun come up. It's a wonderful way to start the day," she said.
John YangJohn Yang is an NBC News correspondent based in Chicago, where he covers a variety of stories for “Nightly News with Brian Williams,” “TODAY” and MSNBC.
Since being assigned to Chicago in 2009, Yang has covered a number of major stories, including the deadly April 2011 outbreak of tornadoes in Alabama. His coverage was part of a "Nightly News with Brian Williams” honored with the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award for “Best Newscast.” In 2012, he was the lead correspondent for NBC News’ coverage of the sex abuse trial of former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky. He also reported from Afghanistan.
Previously, Yang was based in Washington, where he was White House correspondent. He was part of the NBC News team honored with an Emmy for coverage of Election Night 2008.
In September 2007, Yang was the only television correspondent to accompany President Bush on his surprise visit to a U.S. airbase in Anbar Province in Iraq, west of Baghdad. During the visit, he conducted a one-on-one interview with the president.
Yang joined NBC in January 2007 from ABC News, where he worked in Washington and Jerusalem. As ABC News’s Middle East correspondent, Yang covered many major events in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including the 2002 Israeli military operation in the West Bank and the final days of the standoff at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Yang also spent extensive time in Iraq and was the first American broadcast reporter to interview captured al Qaeda fighters imprisoned along the Iran-Iraq border.
In 2000, he covered the presidential campaign of then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush during the Republican primaries. That fall, he covered then-Vice President Al Gore’s campaign through Election Day and the Florida recount.
In the days following the 9/11 terror attacks, Yang reported from the Pentagon and was part of the ABC News team honored with both the George Foster Peabody Award and an Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Award. Yang was also part of the ABC News team honored with an Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Award for coverage of the death of Pope John Paul II.
Prior to joining ABC News, Yang was a reporter and editor at The Washington Post for nearly ten years. As a reporter, he covered Congress and the White House. As an editor, he directed coverage of economic policy in the paper’s business section and oversaw political features in The Post’s Style section. Throughout his print career, he covered Congress and national politics. He had previously worked for The Boston Globe, Time magazine and The Wall Street Journal.
Yang was born in Chillicothe, Ohio, and graduated cum laude from Wesleyan University.
Elisha Fieldstadt contributed.
