A View From The Cab: The Capacity Crisis From A Trucker’s Perspective
2018 has been a year in crisis for trucking. Throughout the first half of the year we've heard about the causes that have plagued the industry. ELDs, lack of capacity, and raising fuel costs have all amounted to higher bills and longer waits. With capacity issues only looking to worsen, the industry is scrambling to find answers. The problem isn't that there aren't enough trucks, it's that there aren't enough drivers.
According to the American Trucking Association there's a shortage of approximately 50,000 drivers nationwide, and that number is expected to almost double by 2022. Some carriers are offering salaries and bonuses in-excess of $80,000 but have reported little luck in recruiting young Americans interested in taking up the profession. To find out why, we've gone directly to the source and asked a trucker.
This week on our podcast, Consulting Logistics presented by Aborn & Co., we were joined by veteran truck driver Paul Charles to discuss the effects of the capacity crisis. As a long-hauler with 13-years of experience, he's seen his share of the road.
"There's not much bad to it. Trucking is a good job." Charles told Consulting Logistics. "It's a job where you can start out making upwards of 40, 50, 60 thousand dollars a year."
With a low barrier to entry and strong starting pay, why are carriers having such a hard time trying to lure new employees? President and general manager of New South Express, Carl Hamilton, shares the same concerns.
"We offer a great industry with state of the art equipment, high wages, great benefit. I guess my hope is giving a different narrative for the trucking industry because this is a great industry… and we all have to have it, if not, we won't be clothed, we won't eat, and we won't have houses if we don't have trucks." said Hamilton to WMBF news.
That narrative and negative stigma that Hamilton hopes to change is something that drivers experience every day.
"Nobody respects you. Nobody on the road respects you. Shippers and consigners don't really care who you are -- what you have going on. When we deliver it's 'drop it here, here's this door here, don't come inside until we call you.'" Charles explained to Consulting Logistics.
The mistreatment that Paul describes is coming back to haunt poorly behaved shippers as more carriers begin to score them. In the new trucking economy, one where time is invaluable, and ELDs made reporting easily accessible, carriers now know immediately who is detaining their drivers. They're acting swiftly as well, by deprioritizing low scoring shippers or blacklisting them entirely.
"My company has ripped up a few different contracts with a few different shippers over how they treat the driver, over improper dock times, improper dock set-up. Things like that. With the implementation of ELDs time is money. Now more than ever."
said Charles.
On the next episode of Consulting Logistics presented by Aborn & Co. we'll discuss how you can become a Shipper of Choice but in the interim Paul Charles has some advice for shippers to follow.
"If you treat the drivers well, that driver is going to like going back to where ever it was that he picked up the load from or delivered to. Really, it doesn't take a whole lot to treat us well. Be nice to us. Don't act like we're there to put your company out of business, don't act like we're there to try to be your boss, because really we're not. We just want to get in and out as quick as possible so we can get on with our day and get our job done so we can make money and feed our families. Basic amenities. Have a bathroom with a toilet and a sink in it. That's all we need, really."
Listen to the episode below.
