Is your plan good for the long haul?
Trucking has grown vigorously over the last decade and that growth – combined with a shortage of drivers – has been keeping salaries high. But this fragmented, highly competitive, and low-margin industry remains sensitive to the economy, interest rates, and the price of diesel. This has contributed to the underfunding epidemic of many trucker pension funds.
A December, 2005 study by the Central States Pension Improvement Committee compared the Teamster's Central States Fund with six other larger Teamster funds. The report, as discussed on the Teamsters for a Democratic Union website, found that despite deeper cuts in benefit, the Central States fund had "the same employers, the same demographics, the same ratio of retirees, and a similar funding ratio." The group has called for more detailed information so they can produce an independent actuarial study of the fund.
According to an October 2004 article in Financial Planning magazine, trucking was underfunded by 33% in the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) multiple-employer program.
