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Truckers Shortage * USA - Stalls deliveries, raises costs
Dixon,ILL,USA -Sauk Valley/Gannett News Service, by PAUL DAVIDSON -September 11, 2010: -- Shortages of trucks and drivers are delaying some deliveries of products and raw materials across the country and raising freight costs... After plunging in the recession, contract rates are up about 4 percent in 2010, and spot rates are up as much as 40 percent. About 70 percent of shippers surveyed reported tight capacity for full truckload service this quarter, up from 27 percent the first quarter, according to research firm Wolfe Trahan... Operators slashed their fleets and workforces in the downturn as demand fell 24 percent. Thousands of small firms closed, while survivors trimmed fleets an average 14 percent... Thousands of older drivers retired when they were laid off or saw their workloads cut. Yet it’s tough to attract younger workers to a lifestyle that typically means being away from home for weeks at a time for salaries that start at about $38,000... Combined Transport of Central Point, Ore., has been trying to add 50 drivers to its staff of 370 for months. “We have trucks and trailers sitting around doing nothing,” says President Mike Card... Con-way Truckload of Joplin, Mo., which sought 70 drivers this summer, vied with rivals offering $10,000 bonuses, says President Herb Schmidt. Schmidt and Card recently began screening drivers based on the anticipated safety standards... The criteria could shrink the driver pool 5 percent to 12 percent, says Rosalyn Wilson of consulting firm Delcan. She projects a 400,000-driver shortage by 2012...* USA - New regulation clamps down on trucking industry
Jacksonville,FL,USA -The Jacksonville Business Journal, by Mark Szakonyi -10 Sept 2010: -- With business picking up, the trucking industry now faces federal regulation expected to raise some carriers’ insurance rates and make it harder to hire drivers, Jacksonville trucking executives said... Starting in November, the federal regulation expands trucking and insurance companies’ knowledge of truckers’ driving records, from accidents and speeding tickets to citations for unsafe equipment and driving too long... Company executives said the regulation will make worse the growing shortage of experienced drivers created by increased business as the economy recovers. And it means higher rates for trucking customers... Cliff Munger, vice president of trucking and warehouse operations, for Spectrum Logistics Inc., said even with higher pay and bonuses, it’s difficult to make over-the-road trucking, or trucking involving staying nights away from home, attractive to the younger generation. It costs at least $30,000 to buy a good used truck, making the route of the independent operator even more difficult. For many, driving a company’s truck or leasing one to own is the only option... (Photo from assets.bizjournals)
Labels: rules and regulations, truckers shortage
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