Eyewitness News 11.com: Truck Driver Shortage Increases Prices — And Job Opportunities

Faced with a shortage of drivers, some trucking companies are charging more to move merchandise– costs passed onto you and me. The shortage is delivering a blow to the consumers, but a boon to people who are willing to make the long hauls.

The driver shortage is causing companies to offer better pay and benefits. Drivers can start at $35,000… eventually make $70,000 to $100,000 a year with overtime.

Anyone except for unions get overtime? I’m pretty sure that pay scale is union too. Nothing wrong with that, but it doesn’t reflect the rest of the industry.

I’m still seeing the same ads for the same crappy wages. Especially for people just starting out. Bonus’s that are spread out over a year or more. I’m just a lowly owner operator but I still keep an eye on wages that companies offer and the rates they offer to owner operators and they havent’ moved much in several years. I’m not impressed by what’s everyone is offering.

Worse, it’s still the same pennies per mile. How about a salary? How about hourly? How about all those hours sitting on the dock? How about more companies offering overtime? Driver shortage must not be that bad. They’re still trying to fix it with the same crap, they think different people are listening now and the rest of us are too stupid.

Small update – I have been hearing ads from a few companies that are advertising a raise in salaries. Salaries (including o/o’s) are beginning to inch up.

And check this out -

Truckload Profits Rise Despite Driver Issues

Many truckload carriers said profits pushed higher during the second quarter despite a lingering inability to find and retain drivers that prohibited fleet expansion in spite of high demand for freight-hauling services.

Of the 13 publicly traded carriers that posted earnings for the three months ended June 30, most reported strong gains and some said the high demand for their services allowed them to increase freight rates. Analysts and fleets said the current market trends should continue through this year, allowing carriers to trim less profitable lanes and customers.

“Freight demand and pricing continued to strengthen in the second quarter as truckload industry capacity struggled to keep up with an improving freight economy,” said Clarence Werner, chairman and chief executive officer of Werner Enterprises, in the company’s earnings statement.

They’re “struggling”, but doing okay, driver shortage and all. Must not be all that bad after all.

Originally posted 2008-11-26 04:00:00.

Philadelphia Inquirer | 10/21/2004 | Trucks hook up and keep emissions down

For 30 years, truck driver Douglas Musgrove has been rolling into the Travel Centers of America off Interstate 295 in Paulsboro for a shower, a good meal, and a little rest from the road.

Yesterday, the trucker, 54, of Indianapolis, was able to heat his cab, surf the Internet, and watch television, all from behind the wheel. And he did not have to leave his engine running.

Welcome to New Jersey’s first electrified truck stop, hailed yesterday by officials as a big step in reducing diesel emissions.

I’ve never hooked up to one of these. I’m sure it’s a great idea and their marketing to an industry that has a public relations problem because of idling trucks. But…

I spent a lot of money ($6,500) on an APU (auxiliary power unit) so I don’t have to idle at all. Not everyone has the money or wants to spend the money to save money. It pays back your investment in so many ways. I don’t idle as much which saves fuel, which means I don’t have to change the oil as often and it extends the life of my engine.

The IdleAire system is operated through a series of bright yellow tubes suspended from an overhead rack. Consoles attached at the end of each tube are mounted on the passenger-side window and allow drivers to heat and air-condition their cabs, sign on to the Internet, watch cable television, make phone calls, and obtain traffic information, among other services. The system costs $1.25 an hour for drivers whose fleets become members. Non-members pay $1.50 an hour. The technology is in use at 23 truck stops across the country.

Truck stops aren’t the only places where trucks idle and even with this technology truckstops are having a hard time against the public perception as in this dealing between Pilot and the town of Burns Harbor, IN. Pilot says they will put in Idleaire if someone comes up with the money. On Idelaires website, they say the truck stop doesn’t have to come up with any money. Wonder what’s up with that? Burns Harbor residents are complaining about the traffic and want Pilot to pay for a signal light, but not let Pilot expand the number of parking places and add a minor repair center that was going to pay for the signal light.

Christopher Gonzalez, 32, who had transported produce from Texas, said he found the IdleAire technology convenient and, more important, cost-effective.

My truck has a dashboard computer that tells me how much I’m idling away (when I do idle for a few minutes). Usually it’s about .5 to .7 gallons an hour. Even at $2.00 a gallon, that’s less then hooking up to IdleAire. Where’s my incentive to do this? Where’s an owner operator’s incentive or a company driver’s incentive if his fleet doesn’t reimburse him? Other trucks maybe different so it may be cost effective for some.

The nearby Coastal Eagle Point refinery in West Deptford paid $1 million toward the installation of the system in Paulsboro as part of a 2003 settlement of state and federal pollution violations.

I’m sure it’s a good idea and a lot of grant money must be getting used and it will probably help in our public relations image. But, I’d rather have tax credits for generators (APU’s) instead of another idea to suck money out of our pockets.

Originally posted 2004-10-27 04:00:00.

Museum of Science & Industry,
originally uploaded by Adventures In Trucking.

Have I ever mentioned how cool my job is? Hauling lettuce and groceries is a vital part of trucking and the economy, but I like hauling fun stuff and for some odd reason it tends to pay more too. This was for an exhibit we moved from the LA Science Center Museum to Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, in two weeks we load it and move it to Boston.

I’ve been slacking, I need to post my solutions to the driver shortage. I have some good ideas to keep new drivers and for companies to keep the drivers they have, but with fuel prices going through the roof, you don’t hear so much about driver shortages, besides, we’ve been working hard this month. And I could comment about all the strike mail I’ve been getting, but they’re mostly like this comment. Drivers that want to strike to “show” America how important they are. We are important, but why get an attitude about it? Want to strike for fuel prices? Start with YOUR company and strike for a fuel surcharge??? How about becoming a company driver? I’ve heard rumors of a driver shortage.

trucking

Originally posted 2006-04-22 18:27:56.

The HOS Monkey Wrench

PATT, CRASH and Public Citizen don’t care. Quote from an email I got from PATT – “PATT and CRASH want shippers and receivers (and therefore consumers) to pay the true cost of shipping goods across this country.” So, be it. Prices will raise anyway and not because of HOS, fuel and the tight capacity are raising shipping rates. “Tight Capacity” is not the same as “Driver Shortage”.

Trucking consultant George Edwards expects that ultimately, the current HOS will be modified and not discarded. “I suspect that studies are going to be done to address the driver health issues raised by the court ruling against the HOS rules and that modifications will be made,” he said at the recent McLeod Software Users Conference.

They’re going to be changed, but how and to what and what crazy reason will they have to back it up to make PATT & Co., happy?

Overall, the business community, shippers, and trucking industry have shown their support for the current rules because of the efficiencies that were developed to accommodate the regs. “They better not throw the baby out with the bathwater here,” Edwards said. “Because of the new HOS rules, trucking companies are no longer being used as ‘rolling warehouses’ by shippers. Carriers have also used the new rules to implement waiting and detention time charges. The end result is that shippers and carriers are both getting more efficient, and that’s making a big difference.”

Carriers are no longer being used as rolling warehouses, carriers used the new rules to raise detention charges and everyone is more efficient and drivers get more rest. Do PATT & Co., care? Nope. They have their own agendas to shove down our throats. Here’s what I think about Public Citizens’ agenda here and here. And don’t forget CRASH’s agenda.

Originally posted 2004-10-01 04:00:00.

News

Pull in to any truck stop in Texoma and you`ll likely see, hear and even smell rows of semi trucks idling while their drivers take breaks. The Environmental Protection Agency announced recently that practice wastes tons of fuel and hurts air quality. The EPA estimates more than half a million long haul trucks idle eight hours a day, 300 days a year. A spokesperson with the EPA says, “When you add all that up, you start to rack up some serious pollution numbers. With 180,000 tons of nitrogen oxides every year.” The EPA says those emissions create ozone and smog. The agency also estimates idling trucks result in 960 million wasted gallons of diesel fuel every year.

It’s probably worse because you don’t just stop for 8 hours. Most stop longer, especially now since the mandatory break is now 10 hours.

Truckers say they have to keep their vehicles running when they rest, or they`d suffer during hot summers and cold winters. NewsCenter 3`s Matt Keeney talked to the EPA and truckers today to see how the agency is working to solve this problem.

That’s true, but there are a lot of drivers that leave their trucks idle when they go in to the truck stop to shower, eat or watch TV.

The EPA says it`s as simple as this, plugging trucks in, just like RV owners have done at RV parks for years, so they can be comfortable without a running engine. The EPA says that will improve our air quality, and maybe even trucker`s health.

If it’s so simple… Just do it. Someone just snap their fingers and put outlets in every truck stop, rest area and shipper docks. Don’t forget to convert every truck out here to be able to plug in and use those outlets.

The EPA does have some grants available, but the agency says local governments may pick up the tab to improve their local air quality.

Good governmental beauracrat answer.

It`s not just air quality the EPA says it`s concerned about the health of truckers, it wonders if sleeping in cabs like this all the time, with the truck running, could hurt them down the road. But truckers aren`t worried. Chuck Putnam says, “These old trucks are pretty tight, now-a-days. I never smell any fumes.”

Isn’t it a little late for that. All the trucks since God knows when and all the truck drivers and now they’re worried about fumes? Drivers smoking cigarettes get more dangerous fumes.

Ezell agrees. He says what`s in his truck is worse than what`s coming out “I pull a tanker, so I`m in chemical plants all the time. If the EPA can live with the chemical plants, I can live with whatever they regulate.”

Right now, this is a voluntary program, but the EPA says certain high polluted areas may be required to put up similar plugs. The EPA says it does not have a timetable to institute all this, but eventually it would like to see plugs at truck stops all over the country.

Idling is bad. Pollution’s bad. Instead of giving some kind of business incentive or tax breaks for truck stops or for companies to buy APU’s, they just wave their hand from behind their desk and expect it to be done today.

Originally posted 2008-11-21 03:21:00.

I was hoping for cheap fuel in Alaska since they can tap right into the pipeline, but according to one fuel stop owner, fuel used to be cheap in Alaska until, the single refinery in Alaska was bought by someone else and they determine the price for the entire state. And they think Alaska should pay the same as the lower 48. (Meaning: They want more profit.) But even $2.52 a gallon in Tok, Ak is more than most in the States. It’s a little cheaper in Anchorage, but not by much.

Most of the trucks leave Alaska empty because there is nothing manufactured in Alaska that anyone exports. Anything that’s exported is either on boat (container) or locked in by a few trucking companies that are based in Alaska. About the only export is household and I was lucky enough to get one (if nothing changes between now and than), so if everything goes well, this trip up north should pay pretty well.

The road itself is a tough road to make good time on. If you take a
trip up here, pack plenty of patience! It’s a long windy, two lane
road. A good bit of RV traffic to keep things interesting and
incredible scenery to pass the time. The Alcan is paved, except for
construction areas. Which there are plenty. We hit at least one a day.
When they are doing construction on a two lane road, only one direction
can go by at a time. From what I could tell, when they redo a road,
they tear it up and start over. Traffic was still going over the same
path or off to the side and on dirt. Not very smooth dirt either. With
so little room, the pilot cars would guide us between the heavy
equipment and we would have to wait for equipment to move out of the
way sometimes.

The road that isn’t under construction probably needs to be! The last
200 miles in the Yukon to Alaska had some of the worst natural speed
bumps. Go too fast over 50 mph and the truck felt like
it was going airborne! Had to slow down there also.

Most of the regular trucks (as opposed to the tourists like us!) aren’t
on CB, they use VHF ham radios. The CB was pretty quite most of the
time. The RV’ers were generally pretty nice and would come up on channel
19 and ask if we wanted to go around. They would move over and slow
down a little so we could get around easily. There are passing lanes,
but not enough, so I thought that was nice of them.

I’m no expert here, but this is what I learned on my first trip to
Alaska and from talking to truckers that do this all the time, the two
fuel stop owners in Tok and the Alaska DOT inspector that gave me a
level 1 inspection. Who was the coolest DOT Trooper I’ve ever met! The regulars know to call ahead on the CB and talk to him before they get there. He’ll ask them what they’re hauling and if it’s real light, he’ll tell them on the CB to go on by. While I was getting inspected, another driver stops in just to chat. It was really neat how neighborly everyone is. And really educational about the everyday life and the hard work it is to live in this area. Anchorage may be different but out in the rural areas like Tok it sounded pretty rough just trying to make a living.

I was lucky enough not to break down. (But
we’re not back yet!). I probably wasn’t as prepared as I should have been, but my truck has been pretty reliable. I can see how even a small problem can turn into a big, expensive problem real quick. So far, it’s been the trip of a life time. If we
do this again, I’ll get the radio that ‘regulars’ have and stock up on
CD’s (XM starts cutting out north of Edmonton).  FM and AM is real scarce and stop checking your cell phone, because it’s not going to work until you get to Anchorage!

Pictures and our personal journal are at Adventures In Trucking.com

Originally posted 2005-06-30 19:31:17.