Differences in truck driver labor supply between owner-operators and employees

This study seeks to examine the work hours of truck drivers and the factors influencing drivers' supply of labor to the freight transportation market. Recently, truck driver hours have been the object of regulatory scrutiny and regulation by the U.S. Department of Transportation, ostensibly for safety reasons. The new Hours of Service regulations are being blamed by some in the trucking industry for decreasing the amount of labor supplied by drivers by drivers entering other fields of employment. While drivers operate under this regulatory environment, the current study examines the other determinants of labor hours for truck drivers. These determinants are particularly relevant in light of projections of a shortage in the supply of truck drivers within the United States in the near future, and the associated costs and rates of driver turnover within the trucking industry. The nature of driver employment, either as an employee of a firm, or as an owner-operator, is also examined within the context of modern industrial organization theories of transaction costs and agency.