At the CSCMP conference in early October, a trucking company owner said that in order to reduce the shortage of trucks, the industry needed to increase driver wages – his take was $85-$100K.  This is not out of line with what I hear Walmart is paying, but it is a large jump for most shippers.  This same carrier spoke of converting his for-hire fleet to a dedicated one.  I have written in the past about how dedicated fleets take capacity out of the ecosystem and are generally less efficient.  This is in direct contrast to another speaker on the same panel that made the point that one way to overcome the shortage of trucks is with increased supply-chain efficiency.  With 3-4% fewer trucks on the road today than before the recession, there is a real need to do something.