Follow us on Twitter!
Blog Header Logo
DG&A's Transportation Consulting Blog
Subscribe to this list via RSS Blog posts tagged in truck drivers

b2ap3_thumbnail_dreamstime_l_181721874.jpg

As we begin the new year, trucking companies throughout North America are facing the same challenge - - - finding qualified truck drivers. There are several forces shaping the supply of drivers.

The coronavirus is making drivers sick and some have not come back; the virus is also causing older drivers to retire. A surge in business volumes is being experienced in various sectors of the freight economy. Strong market demand and capacity shortages are encouraging more requests from shippers for committed capacity. Having done their homework, some of the biggest shippers are prepared to pay a premium to secure the capacity they need.

As increasing numbers of people work from home, and with the closure of many restaurants and stores, there has been a remarkable upswing in Ecommerce activity. Thousands of drivers have been added to the workforce to perform local deliveries. During this period, an estimated 30,000 drivers have been disqualified in the new U.S. Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse.

Trucking companies are creating a range of programs to recruit and retain drivers. Roehl Transport (https://www.roehl.jobs) announced a new program to add truck driving jobs to qualified people who stepped away from their commercial driving career for other non-driving employment. “The Roehl Relaunch Program is open to former truck drivers who may have left trucking for positions in construction, manufacturing, retail, and other industries as well as current drivers in local trucking jobs who may not be getting the income they need . . . Drivers who complete the Relaunch program will be given credit for their prior experience rather than starting over at entry level driver pay rates.”

...
Hits: 1372
0
Continue reading 0 Comments

 

b2ap3_thumbnail_eld-android.png

Under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rules in the United States, that came into effect on Dec. 18, 2017, most trucks built after 2000 had to be equipped with an ELD (Electronic Logging Device). Fleets already using older electronic onboard recorders are grandfathered until December 2019.

The CCMTA (Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators) is coming forward with a Canadian ELD Mandate proposal. The Canadian ELD rules will closely mirror the US mandate to keep cross-border regulations consistent.

Regardless of when the Canadian government publishes the final rule on ELDs, which will likely be within the next year, any driver operating a commercial motor vehicle south of the border is already required to follow U.S. Hours of Service rules and regulations. Canadian carriers that make cross-border deliveries were also required to have an ELD solution by the December 2017 deadline.

...
Hits: 2220
0
Continue reading 0 Comments

Today we received some unexpected good news in the United States as the unemployment rate fell to 8.6%.  In Canada the news wasn’t as good as the unemployment rate increased to 7.4 percent.  Without counting those people who have given up looking for work or who are underemployed (e.g. performing a job below their level of expertise and education at a wage inferior to what they should be earning), there are about 14 million people unemployed in North America (e.g. 13.3 million in the United States and 1.3 million in Canada). 

FTR Associates estimated that there was a shortage of 200,000 drivers in the United States in the first quarter of 2011.  How does one explain the fact that out of a pool of 13.3 million unemployed people (plus millions more if you include those who are underemployed), we cannot find 100,000 to 200,000 individuals to fill these jobs?

Here are some thoughts on this apparent anomaly.  There were 3.2 million commercial drivers in the United States in 2008, including 1.8 million heavy haul or tractor-trailer drivers, according to the U.S. Labor Department.  By May 2010, the number of big rig drivers had dropped 18.4 percent to about 1.5 million.  In other words, there are 300,000 drivers that left the labour force that should be available to fill the available jobs.  Why is it so hard to convince them to come back to work?

One of the most frequently mentioned reasons is compensation.  In the United States, experienced truck drivers can make $50,000 a year at some truckload carriers.  According to a BLS survey, the average wage was $39,450 in 2010 while the median wage was $37,770.  The survey indicated that 75% earn less than $47,000 per annum. 

The trucking industry has a long term practice of paying its drivers by the mile.  While there is certain fairness to this approach since it correlates directly with the amount of miles driven and hours worked, it also injects a level of uncertainty into the driver’s weekly pay package.  Inconsistent load availability translates into inconsistent pay. 

...
Hits: 16785
0
Continue reading 0 Comments

Most Recent Posts

Search


Tag Cloud

freight transportation conference Sales Strategy Global experience Politics Driver Shortage Bobby Harris selling trucking companies Entrepreneur Railway Association of Canada fuel surcharge freight forwarders the future of transportation computer security small business consumer centric automation truck drivers freight bid CP Rail NAFTA Canada-U.S. trade agreement YRC Rotman School of Business solutions provider Impeachment Cleveland Cavaliers network optimization Truckload Sales Training 2013 Economic Forecast Associates Canadian economy peak season BlueGrace Logistics TMS President Obama Success Sales Management Driving for Profit truck driver ELD New York Times CSA scores Transport Capital Partners (TCP) Tracy Matura Freight Matching financial management Colilers International digital freight matching Global Transportation Hub APL cars RFP US Economy Rate per Mile pipelines economic outlook Blockchain transportation news hiring process freight payment freight audit carrier conference MBA Hudsons Bay Company Doug Davis online shopping Tariffs US Election Freight Digitization shipper-carrier roundtable broker security Climate Change David Tuttle future of freight industry Transplace Keystone Pipeline capacity shortage marketing Werner 3PL employee termination freight RFP Sales 360ideaspace risk management freight costs Canada U.S. trade Deferred Packaging Education derailments Management Transportation service Canadian truckers Leadership FuelQuest Warehousing coaching technology Packaging Loblaw Business Strategy broker bonds Retail transportation Canadian Transportation & Logistics Muhammad Ali USMCA Government ProMiles Omni Channel Amazon TMP Worldwide NMFC trade Canadian freight market shipper-carrier contracts NS YRCW IANA freight rate increases laptop Infrastructure 2014 economic forecast Masters in Logistics driver pay Harper Davos speech NCC driver economic forecasts for 2012 drones Business Transformation Strategy Twitter Schneider Logistics EBOR Dedicated Trucking freight transportation in 2011 Scott Monty Freight Recession Freight Carriers Association of Canada Geopolitics Habs robotics Rail US Housing Market driver shortages Social Media business security Otto capacity shortages dark stores transportation audit Business Development Adrian Gonzalez freight transportation Whole Foods Covid-19 Stephen Harper Trade Vision Freight Management tanker cars Regina 2015 Economic Forecast Job satisfaction Trump CRM Transcom Fleet Leasing freight agreements Fire Phone mentoring FCPC dimensional pricing China e-commerce Transloading Freight Capacity Dan Goodwill truck capacity Comey computer protection computer FMCSA Failure Software Advice CSX Hockey Leafs FCA Reshoring Carriers Retail US Auto Sales US Manufacturing recession driverless KCS Donald Trump LCV's CSA natural disasters Swift Consulting Digital Freight Networks Coronavirus Outsourcing Sales 2014 freight forecast Map-21 professional drivers Transportation Buying Trends Survey University of Tennessee asset management Spanx Freight Shuttle System Trucker Protest USA Truck Freight contracts Horizontal Supply Chain Collaboration Load broker Inbound Transportation JB Hunt Yield Improvement CITA Shipper Pulse Survey Accessorial Charges Search engine optimization 2012 Transportation Business Strategies. Jugaad Derek Singleton shipping Success failure entrepreneur Dedicated Contract Carriage Training New Hires MPG Wal-Mart Canada's global strategy 2014 freight volumes Load Boards rail safety $75000 bond Justice BNSF freight payment LTL Freight Rates freight audit CN Rail Crisis management UP routing guide energy efficiency Toronto CN Crude Oil by Rail General Motors Conway TransForce Distribution Broker Business skills Montreal Canadiens FMS freight broker freight cost savings cyber security Electric Vehicles Anti-Vax freight marketplace Social Media in Transportation Grocery Uber Freight Facebook Celadon dynamic pricing LinkedIn autos trucking company acquisitions Training transportation newspaper bulk shipping 3PLTL Canada shipping wine home delibery intermodal Online grocery shopping last mile delivery shipper-carrier collaboration Shipper cheap oil economy Blogging Right Shoring ShipMax Trucking Microsoft Finance and Transportation Toronto Maple Leafs Transportation Canadian Protests business start-up customer engagement small parcel Emergent Strategy autonomous vehicles Life Lessons Career Advice Surety bond buying trucking companies Ferromex Value Proposition home delivery supply chain management Doug Nix

Blog Archives

March
February
December
October
September
August
June
May
April
March
January