A driver shortage worsened by the coronavirus pandemic and failed drug tests topped the American Transportation Research Institute’s list of critical issues in the trucking industry for the fourth consecutive year.
In today’s edition of The Daily Dash, a driver’s training matters more than his or her age when it comes to safety performance; Navistar and TuSimple promise a self-driving truck by 2024, and Convoy opens the door to dedicated freight.
New report highlights the industry’s efforts to recruit and retain drivers as it warns that vacancies will swell above 25,000 in Canada.
Nothing fires up the trucking community like a strong opinion on the driver shortage. From its inception, FreightWaves waded into the conversation, balancing perspectives from both ends of the continuum. We considered the American Trucking Associations’ (ATA’s) perspective that there is an ever-expanding dearth of quality drivers, especially for midsize to large carriers. We considered […]
ZF Friedrichshafen said at #CES2020 that it will deliver a Level 4 autonomous driving system to a trucking customer by 2025.
The operating realities of long-haul, for-hire trucking translates into working conditions that require both employee and independent contractor drivers to be away from home, and alone for days and sometimes weeks at a time. This combined with transit delays (both on the road and at customer facilities), and lifestyle-related health pressures (sleep deprivation and poor eating choices) are the primary causes of both short and long-term turnover.
“By employing remote drivers, we can make trucks fully driverless while still keeping humans in the loop,” said Seltz-Axmacher.
The costs of operating a for-hire Class 8 truck rose 7.7% in 2018, the biggest jump since 2010. It is the highest per-mile cost since the American Transportation Research Institute began tracking the data in 2008.
United Road, which moves about 4 million new and used cars and light trucks a year, is expanding into Class 8 truck and equipment hauling with its acquisition of specialty hauler Team Drive-Away.
The Canadian government says employers who abuse the foreign worker program face “serious consequences” after a newspaper investigation reveals how some carriers with bad safety records exploited under-qualified job-seekers and put them on the road.
Motor carriers and commercial drivers agree on just four of the Top 10 challenges facing the trucking industry, according to the American Transportation Research Institute’s annual study.
Spain’s road transport sector faces a “profound” shortfall in drivers, says IRU
Program funding has increased annually from $38 million awarded in 2013.
There isn’t a driver shortage. In fact, there is a glut of capacity on the road, and not enough freight to haul.
Recruiters say competition is fierce among trucking companies to find qualified truck drivers and it can be a race to see which company can successfully help applicants navigate the hiring process first.
Sandeep Kar has written a thought-provoking article about changes in trucks and how those changes affect truck drivers. He also writes about what the future may hold for truck drivers in the coming years.
Freightliner Team Run Smart Pros are being tasked with talking up trucking careers as part of industry ambassador role.
Support for proposal split between large and small carriers.
Authors controversial study miss key factors contributing to truck driver turnover and wages.
Nah, the roads don’t need the money!
Sentiment could be growing for lowering the driver age, but questions linger over safety and wages.
Message from NATSO: Technology trends will force truck stop owners to reevaluate how they serve their customers.
Recruiting and keeping drivers remains a difficult task for carriers, but several experts said that a strong social media approach improves both tasks.
ELD impact substantive but short-lived, Hunt, NS executives say.
“The biggest takeaway is we’ve got a systemic labor problem. We don’t see a simple solution.”
If driver wages are eliminated, total cost of ownership will fall. But capacity will saturate the market and rates will crash. In the end, trucking will still be a capital-intensive and low-margin industry.
So far, there have been zero responses to our requests for more information from RushNet, XYZ Hemp, or GreatRateFreight.
A driver incentive program, which not only prompts drivers to make smarter and safer driving decisions, but also promotes driver happiness, is one way to increase driver retention.
Fresh off strong third quarter earnings, Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ: WERN) President and CEO Derek Leathers was optimistic about the company’s future moving into peak season and beyond.
While 60% did say that ELDs were forcing drivers to stop, rest, and run legally, the other 40% of respondents felt that ELDs decreased driver safety, as well as for others on the road.
Even as the trucking industry struggles to identify new drivers, there is a segment of the U.S. population that is facing unemployment rates above 27% that are looking for jobs. Can felons fill the driver gap?
Spireon hosted a webinar in collaboration with FreightWaves earlier this week to explore how the DRIVE-Safe Act could affect the driver shortage if it becomes law.
FreightWaves reached out to OOIDA for their perspective on the current state of affairs in trucking. We also want to engage in a dialog from the fragmented industry interests, seeking points of agreement, as well as naming points of contention.
Since the ELD hard mandate went into effect, the trucking market has added 4% more truck capacity
Discussions around the topic of autonomous trucks would not be complete without it addressing three main concerns – job security of drivers, data privacy, and liability issues.
While things like bonuses and increased pay are already being employed to attract drivers, the shortage continues to worsen
Cashflow Corner presented by TriumphPay …It doesn’t matter if you believe the driver shortage is real or not, if you need a driver, you need a driver. So how do you get one?
Mack Trucks’ new endeavor into the world of content marketing has led to an 8-episode docuseries called RoadLife. The series, which runs from June through October 2018, highlights these “modern icons of tough,” most recently shining the spotlight on two women working to change the face of the industry in an episode appropriately titled “Breaking the Mold.”
Hosted by FreightWaves, the August 9th McLeod Capacity Creator webinar featured a discussion between Robert Brothers, Manager of Product Development for McLeod Software and Brian Kelsey, Vice President of Operations for ZMac Transportation Solutions.
In today’s pickup, CEOs on analysts calls don’t see a peak and see better driver retention for their companies. Also: OPEC output and a change in Chinese scrap policy.
Schneider National became the latest carrier to announce that it has benefited financially from the strong pricing and capacity squeeze when it announced its second-quarter operating revenues were up 15% year-over-year.
USA Truck had an aggressive plan to add trucks to its fleet, but delays at the OEMs are falling short of the targets.
Sponsored by Reliance Partners…The DOT’s pilot program to study the feasibility of 18-21-year-old drivers will have an insurance impact, but what exactly do insurance providers think of the proposal?
While there is a lot of noise surrounding tariffs and potential trade wars, it probably isn’t enough to derail the economy and the red-hot freight environment.
Sponsored by Reliance Partners…Other than the economy slowing and unemployment rising, is there a solution to the driver problem?
The trucking industry isn’t at the point of no return yet, but it is at risk. Many of those jobs are heading into the increasingly efficient warehouses.
Central Oregon Trucking Company has announced a new pay structure that paves the way for driver salary increases of up to $15,000 per year.
With the so-called driver squeeze continuing to make headlines in 2018 (FreightWaves, The Washington Post, USA Today, and NPR), some trucking companies are pushing back against the shortage with announcements of their own: pay increases for their drivers.
Drivers find productivity gains after ELD hard enforcement; Canadian Pacific workers’ strike imminent; Brazilian truckers extract over $2B in govt concessions; Maersk rolls out blockchain-based maritime insurance; WaPo interviews truck drivers on the lifestyle.
The current capacity crunch has been a significant issue in the trucking industry since last year. Many things will need to change in order to resolve the squeeze, but discussions throughout Transparency18 highlighted technology’s role.
Truckonomics is an organization looking to improve the lives of drivers, by providing them a gateway for financial security with a passive income after they retire.
Commentary: The term shortage is popular among industry commentators- but like other markets, a shortage is a function of the lack of a resource at a specific price.
In addition to the persistent need for more drivers within a fragmented industry, there are additional headwinds that the trucking industry faces makes trucker recruitment difficult, particularly regarding younger drivers.
Sponsored by Reliance Partners…Two very different approaches could give some breathing room to the tightening CDL driver shortage.
Data from the Institute of Supply Management shows that manufacturing activity lost some momentum in April, as the current capacity crunch and recent tariffs have impacted production flows
Everyone’s interested in who is a shipper of choice, and if they’re not they want to know how they can become one.
Trucking employment has grown a healthy 32% since 2012, but very small and small fleets are absorbing the new drivers, leaving large carriers struggling to seat their trucks.
Responses from the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book on regional economic conditions show that recent tariffs and capacity issues in freight are starting to pressure businesses.
“The good news is we picked up 19,000 drivers last year,” says TMW’s Damon Langley. “The bad news is we’re still about 50,000 short.”
OOIDA president Todd Spencer talks about the shortage of drivers in the trucking industry and the circumstances that led to this situation.
Transport stocks excluding bulk maritime carriers largely unaffected by tariffs; Port of LA getting new container terminal; Boeing and Ford threatened by Chinese tariffs; new autonomous shipping joint venture announced; commercial driving schools see low enrollment; a guide to Tesla’s guidance.
The number is 175,000 out several years, against a base of a half-million.
It’s pay, it’s treatment, it’s training: a long list of personnel issues facing the trucking industry.
The JOBehaviors Assessment helps carriers identify applicants who possess the behaviors, core values, and attributes of top performing truck drivers. Fleets who implement the assessment see higher productivity and lower turnover.
A CDL holder between the ages of 18 and 21 must do all their driving inside a state under current law.
Shippers that work closer with carriers and treat drivers with respect can see lower transportation costs as a result.
Orders for new Class 8 trucks are surging, but used truck prices and workforce growth are weak, suggesting that overall trucking capacity is staying flat.
In spite of a sea change in technology, the US DOT report released Jan. 31st, says the costs of rigorous data collection and analysis would likely outweigh the benefit. Instead, they provide a lot of data from 2013-2014.
Celadon’s turnaround team is bringing back generous vacation time and cash bonus incentives to recruit drivers for its tweener business.
Strong economic fundamentals in the U.S. and globally are driving the second-longest bull market since the 1920s. Could the driver shortage ultimately end it all?
How rapidly the autonomous truck becomes a common sight on local roads and interstate highways – both in the U.S. and abroad – depends on numerous factors. Maybe we should check ourselves at the propaganda and hype-machine door.
Fleet execs are talking about the driver shortage as if it were the worst thing to happen in the industry, but they should be thankful. It keeps gives fleets pricing power.
This is ELD deadline week, and the sky is falling. Or maybe it already fell. Is it the end of the world as we know it?
It is estimated that truck driver vacancies have reached nearly 50,000 this year and if the trend continues, it could explode to six figures in the next decade. Could immigrants fill those gaps?
The cleverness of the plan resides in the kind of “under-21 truckers” they’re talking about: only those with military driving experience.
Last week, FreightWaves published a commentary suggesting that solving the driver shortage may be as easy as raising pay – a supply and demand issue. We got many comments on that, including from Stifel Equity Research’s John Larkin, who said economics is not the only issue at play.
The industry loves to throw around the term “driver shortage.” But what we really face is an economic opportunity shortage. Fix this and you will fix the driver shortage problem.
Millennials are tech-savvy more often than not, and providing them with tools that could ease the life of a trucking job could empower a lot more to join the system.
The push for autonomous vehicles is gaining more traction as it is provides an easy solution to the worsening driver shortage. Greg Nichols, writing for ZDNet, says the obvious reason is that “millennials don’t want to drive trucks.”
The driver shortage has surged to the most important issue facing the industry, according to the latest top ten critical issues survey, the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), said.
The driver shortage is increasing, according to Bob Costello, chief economist of the American Trucking Associations, but it’s not as bad as many people believe.
Minority growth has been on the rise in the trucking and logistics industry in the recent years, and predictions show no signs of stopping. Drawn in by the attractiveness of middle-class wages and promising opportunities for professional growth, minorities have been steadily increasing the supply of long-haul truck drivers.
While platooning vehicles are close to real-world operation, the world itself may not be ready for them. According to a guide for legislators created by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the varied nature of state laws may limited where platooning vehicles may operate.
