All The News You Need To Know: 2/6/18
Trucking companies have ordered most big rigs in over a decade
. A red hot freight market, spurned by high demand and low capacity, has trucking companies in a race to replace and update their fleets in order to handle demand. In 2017 retail and manufacturing profits were bludgeoned by a spot-rate market that surged 30% above normal rates. While added capacity could spell relief for shippers, the arrival of these trucks is still months away. Additionally, carriers are faced with an industry-wide driver shortage. Read the Wall St. Journal's full report here.
As driver shortage threatens industry stability trucking firms offer up lucrative bonuses to lure drivers
. While drivers receive over 400,000 commercial licenses a year, long hours and low pay have churned through truckers at an accelerated rate. Trucking executives warn that at least 50,000 additional drivers would be needed to remedy the situation. As many drivers near retirement age the problem only looks to worsen. Read USA Today's full report here.
Loading dock wait times cost truckers over $1 billion annually
. Income losses and safety concerns regarding driver detention times may be much higher than initial estimates, according to a report by Department of Transportation office of inspector general audit. Truckers lose a reported 3.6% of their income to extended delays and increase their likelihood of a crash by 6.2%. Dwell times in excess of 2 hours and up to 6 hours were not atypical, according to a 2016 survey conducted by trucking data firm, DAT Solutions. Read the DOT's full report here.
ELDs may have consumers paying more for produce
. New ELD regulations
that went into effect on December, 18 th 2017 have created a "logistical nightmare" according to Peter Testa, president of Testa Produce. While DOT regulations on trucker drive time have been enforced for years, ELDs have altered the way in which truckers report drive time. In the past, truckers may have omitted wait times in traffic or at docks on their paper logs. With ELDs drivers no longer have the ability to alter those numbers. Ultimately, this means that truckers are covering less distance which is fueling the increase in prices for produce
from the West Coast. Read The Morning Calls full report here.
Uber looks to expand their UberFreight platform with trucking logistics company purchase
. As we recently covered in our blog series, The Uberization of Freight,
digital freight matching is going mainstream. While a recent deal to acquire Chicago-based Load Delivered Logistics fell through, all indications are that Uber looks to expand in the market place. UberFreight is a load matching app that connects independent truckers and fleets that have available space with shippers looking to move cargo on-demand. Read Recode's full report here.
Speaking of Uber, those within the company and some industry experts believe self-driving trucks could be a boon for truckers
. Although, many truckers have long believed that the advent of self-driving trucks would displace them, Uber disagrees. They envision a world where a hub system is used that would have autonomous trucks handle long haul while human drivers took care of dock-to-dock and final mile. Could this ultimately correct capacity and driver shortage issues? The Atlantic covers the story here.
