Some U.S. fleet managers pay drivers more in congested areas

Some U.S. fleet managers pay drivers more in congested areas    More than 20 percent of U.S. trucking fleet managers said they plan to increase per-mile pay for driving through routes in congested areas, according to a new survey released by Rand McNally.
   However, 46 percent of managers responding to the survey said they planned no pay increases for drivers in 2005.
   In a sign of how technology has changed the trucking industry, 47 percent of manager surveyed said drivers used onboard tracking systems to warn them of possible late arrivals. Cell phones were the most popular means of alerting managers to delivery delays, according to 53 percent of the survey's respondents. Only 9 percent said their drivers still used pay phones.
   E-mail and the Internet did not fare well in the survey. Only 5 percent of the managers said e-mail was used to alert them of late arrivals. Internet access was deemed the least important service by 36 percent of fleet managers.
   The survey of 424 trucking professionals was conducted by The Litchfield Group of Marietta, Ga., for Rand McNally, a U.S. provider of commercial trucking software and road atlases.