Trucks World News

Jan 23, 2016

TRUCKERS´ HEALTH * USA: Program to avoid drivers shortage

* Virginia - Driver health a key component of mitigating driver shortage

-- The trucking industry has lost more than 150,000 drivers because of medical reasons since the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners was established in May 2014, says Bob Perry, president and founder of Rolling Strong... But carriers can reverse this trend, he says, with simple changes that focus on driver health... The Truckload Carriers Association hosted a webinar Thursday to discuss its new driver health and wellness program, TCA Wellness powered by Rolling Strong... TCA and Rolling Strong recently partnered to offer the program, which both groups say improves driver health and safety and driver retention... Perry said that, because of how many drivers have fallen through the cracks because of medical disqualifications, he feels there is not, in fact, a driver shortage... If a driver becomes medically disqualified, Perry said it would be more beneficial to fleets to give the driver help and get him or her into a program instead of sending them home to fix the problem on their own... Perry added that by the time a company advertises for an open seat, interviews and brings in another driver, the company is looking at $5,000 minimum... “It will cost a fraction of that to get a driver help and get them back on the road,” he said...
Alexandria, VA, USA - CCJ, by Matt Cole - January 22, 2016

Labels: driver shortage, truckers health

Sep 26, 2015

DRIVER SHORTAGE * Canada: "There is no driver shortage"

* Ontario - Trucking’s crisis in leadership

-- The accepted wisdom within the driver pool regarding the driver shortage is that there is no driver shortage... The trucking lifestyle, the culture of trucking, is a delicate thing. It takes a special type of person to do this job day in and day out over the course of a lifetime. It requires a degree of passion. You don’t do long-haul trucking just for the money. That never works out. It’s very difficult to list the qualities that make up a trucker, but along with passion goes independence... That independence is key to the trucking lifestyle. That independence is being eroded by the methods our leaders are employing as they adopt new technologies. The preferred method seems to be one of control and restriction which is a method loathed by drivers. Adopting new methods and technologies is a must, but they have to complement and strengthen the characteristics of a professional driver – not create undue stress and limit the driver’s performance... Trucker health is an issue that is getting much more attention today than it has in the past... But a driver’s health goes far beyond simple physical well-being... A driver’s mental health and emotional health is key to a happy, safe and highly motivated driver... Adequate rest is the hot button issue for an aging demographic that makes up the majority of the driver pool... How drivers are compensated falls into the health category. Income is not keeping pace with the cost of living; in fact we are moving backwards. Drivers are “at work” for most of their lives... Driver training is not an entry-level issue; it is a cradle-to-grave issue. The driving culture and a driver’s health are dependent on the quality and consistency of driver education. Ongoing training for drivers does not exist within our industry. This is our leaders’ biggest fail... How can you possibly develop and maintain a culture of workplace safety across the industry without a system of universally accepted workplace training in place? Perform a few queries on the Internet and you will find truck driving is consistently among the top 10 most dangerous jobs. Thought that was firefighters and police? They don’t even make the top 10 list...
(Photo: thanks Trucking Across Canada) -- Toronto, ONT, CAN - Fleet Owner, by Al Goodhall: A professional long-haul driver since 1998 - September 23, 2015

Labels: driver shortage

Aug 12, 2015

DRIVER SHORTAGE * USA & Canada - WOMEN IN TRUCKING

* Florida - Do You want more women drivers? Stop sexual harassment and assaults during training

-- As the shortage of truck drivers increases, many trucking companies are looking to qualified women to fill the cabs of their vehicles, the Kenosha News reports. According to the report, Ellen Voie, president and CEO of Women in Trucking, said companies are looking at female drivers as a potentially safer alternative to male drivers. “They avoid the risks that some male drivers might take. Companies realize there is less equipment damage, and they might drive slower,” Voie told Kenosha News... Desiree Ann Wood has been a truck driver since 2007. She is based in South Florida and drives for an owner-operator. She hauls freight, recently carrying heavy loads like bricks, beer, and paper. In 2010, she founded Real Women in Trucking, an organization formed by seasoned female commercial motor vehicle drivers... Wood says that although the industry wants to recruit non-traditional drivers like women, it places particular impediments in their way... Wood concludes: "The driver shortage that some of the carriers are experiencing lie in the training carriers. If there are that many people entering trucking and we’re not producing a qualified driver, then there is a problem. It's time to break ranks and shine a spotlight on these problems, including the issue of sexual assault" ...
(Photo: Desiree Ann Wood) -- South Florida, USA - Fleet Owner, by Larry Kahaner - Jun 19, 2015

* Wiscosin / USA - Rosie the road warrior? Trucking industry aims to recruit more women

-- An ever-increasing shortage of truck drivers, along with changing technology, attractive wages and updated equipment, are creating opportunities for women in the trucking industry... As trucking companies struggle to fill the cabs of their vehicles, many companies are extending a welcome hand to qualified women who do not mind driving for a living... Ellen Voie, president and CEO of the Women in Trucking, advocates drawing more women into the transportation industry... She and members of her organization tout the benefits and talk about industry changes that make trucking more palatable to women... Some carriers are getting more involved in recruiting and supporting women in the industry... Ryder Dedicated, a logistics outsourcing division of Ryder System Inc., has partnered with Women in Trucking to guide cab manufacturers in making trucks more adaptable for women, with adjustable seats and pedals for shorter drivers, lower steps for accessing both the cab and trailers, and less fatiguing automatic transmissions...
(Photo: Many trucking companies are trying to entice more women to consider careers in the trucking industry) -- Kenosha, WIS, USA - The Kenosha News, by JAMES LAWSON - August 10, 2015

* Ontario / Canada - Trucking HR looks to boost mentoring for women

-- Trucking HR Canada is asking for your input so it can gather information on the role mentoring can play to support more women in the trucking industry... This new survey is part of group’s Women with Drive initiative that began last summer when it conducted surveys with women working in the trucking industry to identify barriers and challenges... Women who replied recommended targeted mentoring as one of the top three things employers could offer when looking to hire more women, according to Trucking HR Canada, a national partnership-based organization dedicated to developing, sharing and promoting the trucking industry’s best practices in human resources and training... Last year's survey results led to the development of a three-year action plan for Trucking HR Canada’s National Women with Drive Advisory Committee. Now, work is moving forward in identifying a model for mentorship that will support women in the industry...
(Photo: Canadian Feds Fund mentoring programs to boost women in trucking) -- Ottawa, ONT, CAN - Today's Trucking - Aug 10, 2015

* Idaho / USA - A word with Julie Pipal of the Idaho Trucking Association

-- Julie Pipal is the president and CEO of the Idaho Trucking Association, a group that represents trucking companies and independent owner-operators in Idaho... Pipal represents the trucking companies and independent owner-operators based in Idaho, as well as the trucking arms of large companies such as Standlee Hay that have truck transport as one aspect of their business...
(Photo: Julie Pipal of the Idaho Trucking Association) -- Boise, IDH, USA - Idaho Business Review - 7 Aug 2015

Labels: driver shortage, women in trucking

Jun 14, 2014

TRUCKING DOUBLE HIRING * USA & Canada

* Ontario - Trucking may have to double hiring by 2018 to offset productivity losses: FTR

Ottawa,ONT,CAN -Truck News, by James Menzies -June 12, 2014: -- The constricting effects of US regulations on trucking productivity could leave the industry having to hire twice as many drivers by 2018 as it does today, just to offset productivity losses. But Noel Perry, senior consultant with FTR, said that wasn’t always the case... From the early years of over-the-road trucking in the 1930s right through to the mid-90s, government regulations and policy actually increased trucking’s productivity by 150%. The hours-of-service restrictions introduced in 2004 marked the reversal, setting the tone for the regulations that have followed, which have required carriers to accomplish more with less... If the economy strengthens as the impending regulations come into effect, Perry warned the industry may have trouble meeting capacity demands. If a recession occurs, the choking effect caused by the onset of new regulations may be abated temporarily... If the economy strengthens as the impending regulations come into effect, Perry warned the industry may have trouble meeting capacity demands. If a recession occurs, the choking effect caused by the onset of new regulations may be abated temporarily...

Labels: driver shortage

Apr 9, 2013

DRIVERS SHORTAGE * USA

* DC - When hiring drivers, small fleets are at a major disadvantage

Washington,DC,USA -Truck News,by Bill Cameron -1 March 2013: -- As small carriers, we often watch job applicants leave our offices confused as to why, despite seemingly acceptable credentials, they were not hired as drivers. Maybe I can shed some light... First, newly-licensed applicants need to gain at least two years’ experience with a large carrier before a small carrier can hire you. Our insurance providers will not allow us to hire anyone with less than two years’ experience, and even that often involves a premium increase... Even if you prove yourself to be an exceptional talent, as some new licencees are, we can’t hire you. This has been the case for many years, so if a driving school tells you otherwise, they are not simply confused or mistaken, they lied... Small carriers are locked in to a very firm set of insurance provider-dictated recruitment rules. In some cases, a driver we may not accept can apply at a large carrier and be accepted almost immediately, creating obvious confusion for newcomers to the industry... Large carriers may be able hire new trainees, recent immigrants, or those with shaky driving histories. This is because the large carrier will often be self-insured, meaning the lion’s share of their insurance coverage is for liabilities. Deductibles on vehicle damage are so astronomically high, claims are rare...

Labels: driver shortage

Jul 16, 2010

DRIVER SHORTAGE * USA - Schneider ready for return of

Green Bay,WIS,USA -Fleet Owner, by Wendy Leavitt -Jul 14, 2010: -- One chronic problem that did not plague the trucking industry during the recession was the driver shortage. That persistent complaint was temporarily salved by the simple lack of freight. Returning prosperity, however, also means a return of the driver problem... At Schneider National, however, the company has never considered the driver shortage “gone,” according to Michael Hinz, vp of driver recruiting. “I believe there has been and continues to be an underlying driver shortage, which was just temporarily interrupted by the downturn,” he told... As Hinz sees it, truck driving is good work that pays drivers of $40,000 to $50,000 per year... (Photo from wikipedia.org: Schneider National Headquarters)

Labels: driver shortage

May 1, 2010

DRIVER SHORTAGE * USA - Perfect storm for

Princeton,NJ,USA -Fleet Owner, by Jim Mele -Apr 29, 2010: -- A recovering economy with more job options, an aging workforce, new safety regulation and a poor industry image are all going to create “a perfect storm” that will leave trucking with a severe driver shortage, according to Kevin Burch, president & CEO of Jet Express and the past chairman of the Truckload Carriers Assn... Moderating a roundtable discussion for truckload carriers at the annual ALK Technology Summit here, Burch said the average age for drivers in his 200-truck fleet was 58 and that the overall average for the industry was 47. “We’ve been doing a lousy job getting new drivers into the industry,” he said... With CSA 2010 bringing increased awareness of individual carrier safety performance, fleets will have to begin “cleaning up their driver pools now,” Burch said. Combined with the aging driver population and “a little spark in the economy,” carriers face a renewed driver shortage, he said...

* Improving Economy Squeezes Truck Driver Supply

New York,NY,USA -MoneyNews -22 Apr 2010: -- Talk of a driver shortage in the U.S. trucking industry has started to heat up, a sign that a recovery in the freight economy is well under way... The truck driver crunch is a recurring phenomenon that tends to disappear when the economy is on the slide and freight demand falls, but resurfaces as soon as volumes begin to pick up... Truck drivers and driver/sales workers make up one of the largest occupations in the United States, holding 3.2 million jobs in 2008, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics... Demand for truck drivers tends to follow the demand for goods; as a recovering economy opens up more attractive job opportunities, carriers stand to face a severe crunch in driver supply when they begin to hire again... Recent quarterly results from freight transportation companies such as United Parcel Service, CSX Corp., JB Hunt Transport Services and Landstar System reflect improving freight demand... Also, new regulations such as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Comprehensive Safety Analysis (CSA) 2010, to be introduced by federal regulators later this year, could affect the driver pool... The initiative aims to keep a close eye on individual driving records and carriers' overall fleet records. A carrier with a poor safety record could be suspended...

Labels: driver shortage

Mar 25, 2010

Driver Shortage * Canada - B.C. braces for potential one

Langley,B.C.,CAN -Today's Trucking -23 March 2010: -- The B.C. Trucking Association is using 2010 as a year to strategically prepare for an anticipated driver shortage in the trucking industry... Research by BCTA and a variety of government departments had predicted labour shortages prior to the economy’s tailspin in 2008 and 2009, and the association expects employers to experience hiring challenges again as the economy recovers... According to BCTA President and CEO Paul Landry, the global economic slowdown had a little silver lining for trucking because it took some of the pressure off employers looking for qualified drivers... On April 12, the BCTA will begin delivery of 15 HR Essentials Workshops across the province. Pilot delivery of the Professional Driver Training Program is scheduled to begin on April 19... (Picture: A possible solution, more womens driving trucks)

Labels: driver shortage

Mar 10, 2010

Driver Shortage * USA - Trucking Companies Fear About

ATA says: Spot shortages appearing as freight volume increases

Coronado,CAL,USA -The Journal of Commerce Online, by Bill Mongelluzzo -Mar 9, 2010: -- A spike in cargo volume could produce a driver shortage and would expose bottlenecks on key freight corridors, the chairman of the American Trucking Associations warns... Hundreds of drivers left the industry during the lengthy trucking recession that started in mid-2007, Tommy Hodges said Monday in an address to the annual convention of the International Warehouse Logistics Association in Coronado, Calif... He indicated that spot shortages are beginning to appear, citing the case of a North Carolina fleet operator who can't find enough drivers... Motor carrier executives today, however, are more worried about the 4,493 trucking company failures and 174,000 trucks that were taken off the road during the recession. The industry is still facing an over-capacity problem and an economic environment in which it has little pricing leverage... Nevertheless, volume is starting to pick up, and despite attempts in Washington to encourage a shift of freight from highways to intermodal rail, freight volume is projected to increase at least 30 percent in the coming decade. It is possible that a driver shortage could become the industry's biggest problem, Hodges said... He added, planners have identified 57 critical bottlenecks across the country which, if not corrected, will affect goods movement...

Labels: driver shortage

Jan 24, 2008

DRIVER SHORTAGE * USA - Changing face of trucking industry

Companies looking to minorities, retired couples

Phoenix,AZ,USA -The Arizona Republic, by Glen Creno -Jan. 23, 2008: -- High-tech trucks, predictable schedules, revamped training... The job of a long-haul trucker is changing and, many trucking companies hope, becoming more attractive. Trucking companies across the country are facing a shortage of long-haul drivers... To compensate, companies are trying to recast trucking's nomadic image and recruit more minorities, retired military people and those who want a second career. Middle-age husband-and-wife teams are becoming more popular. Their kids are raised, they want extra money for retirement or a change in what they do and they become truckers. Teaming up also helps reduce the grind of the road and the time away from home, which have driven many truckers out of the industry... High driver turnover has traditionally been a problem throughout the trucking industry. But retirements and growing shipping demand have made the shortage of long-haul drivers more acute. Fewer drivers means delayed deliveries and higher delivery costs that could be passed on to consumers. The issue is especially crucial for the Phoenix area, which touts itself as a shipping hub for businesses fed up with the costs and congestion around Los Angeles-area ports. The Valley also is headquarters to two of the country's biggest for-hire trucking companies: Swift Transportation and Knight Transportation... (Photo by Michael Schennum/The Arizona Republic - Sal Iturbe (left) takes lessons on truck driving from Dan Weiksner, a commercial truck-driving instructor at the American Institute of Technology. The long-haul trucking industry is desperate for drivers)

Labels: driver shortage

Sep 6, 2007

DRIVERS' SHORTAGE * USA - Employment and Career Opportunities in Trucking

USA -Dayle is Serious, by Lance Winslow -5 Set 2007: -- Despite the high oil and gas prices the trucking industry is running at record profits. In fact UPS and FedEx are growing and both announced major acquisitions in the Industry in the neighborhood of over two billion dollars... Unfortunately, the trucking industry cannot get enough drivers to drive all the trucks and haul all the product that needs to get to market. And it is going to be about two more decades and until trucks can drive themselves... Robotic trucks of the future may be more of a necessity than anything else... Many immigrants who are coming over from Russia and Mexico and even the Middle East become truck drivers... Trucking companies are now forced to hire people straight out of prison just to get enough drivers to make it all work. Some trucking companies have only a handful of people in the entire company that don’t have felonies on the record... Some say this is a sign of the times and yet many industry analysts are saying that we have a crisis looming that could affect the entire economy and industrial output in the United States of America... (Photo by familysecuritymatters.org)

Labels: driver shortage

Aug 27, 2007

Driver Shortage * Canada - Escalating CTHRC research concludes

New studies conducted on behalf of the Canadian Trucking Human Resources Council (CTHRC) have identified an escalating shortage of qualified commercial truck drivers across Canada

Ottawa,Ont,CAN -Transportation & Logistics Canada, by Adam Ledlow -26 Aug 2007: -- ... Canadian fleets lose 22.1% of their drivers per year, according to Canada's Driving Force Phase 2, the follow-up to research conducted in 2002. That compares to an average driver turnover rate of 36% recorded at the time of the initial study. Even after the employers recruit new personnel, however, about 12% of the industry's job openings remain vacant representing an immediate need for 12,000 additional Class 1/A drivers, CTHRC officials say... Almost half of the fleets admitted during surveys in 2006 that a lack of personnel forced them to idle equipment in the previous six months; 60% cited the driver shortage as one of the top two concerns facing their organizations... "There is no a magic bullet to solve every HR challenge, but this is the industry intelligence that fleets can use in their recruiting, training and retention strategies," says Linda Gauthier, CTHRC executive director.. (Photo Gallery: Static Bob - "Super 18")

Labels: driver shortage

Trucks World News

About Me

Links

Previous Posts

Archives

Favorite Links

Jan 23, 2016

TRUCKERS´ HEALTH * USA: Program to avoid drivers shortage

Sep 26, 2015

DRIVER SHORTAGE * Canada: "There is no driver shortage"

Aug 12, 2015

DRIVER SHORTAGE * USA & Canada - WOMEN IN TRUCKING

Jun 14, 2014

TRUCKING DOUBLE HIRING * USA & Canada

Apr 9, 2013

DRIVERS SHORTAGE * USA

Jul 16, 2010

DRIVER SHORTAGE * USA - Schneider ready for return of

May 1, 2010

DRIVER SHORTAGE * USA - Perfect storm for

Mar 25, 2010

Driver Shortage * Canada - B.C. braces for potential one

Mar 10, 2010

Driver Shortage * USA - Trucking Companies Fear About

Jan 24, 2008

DRIVER SHORTAGE * USA - Changing face of trucking industry

Sep 6, 2007

DRIVERS' SHORTAGE * USA - Employment and Career Opportunities in Trucking

Aug 27, 2007

Driver Shortage * Canada - Escalating CTHRC research concludes