Justin decided today that he would search for an old style diner this evening instead of the fast food restaurants that were dinner fare at most truck stops. A quick search using his iPhone's GPS showed Betty's Family Cooking 15 miles up the road off Exit 46. As he was looking at the search results, the automatic rumble strips on his in-cab camera went off, warning him that he was outside his lane. He quickly corrected and looked up the road. Looking down at his instrument panel, he noticed that he was averaging 7 miles per gallon, not bad for a 30,000 pound load. He really liked his aerodynamic truck with the 13-liter engine and automatic transmission. His GPS now indicated that he had 13 miles to the restaurant and that he would arrive at precisely 8:56.... Read More

Not sustainable, the hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars spent on driver turnover. This kind of profit drain cannot continue if your aim is to maintain, increase your profits.

The cause of high driver turnover has been industry acceptance. The drivers blame management and management points the finger at drivers. However, it is time to stop the finger pointing and take some positive action.... Read More

Just Another Cycle, or a New Beginning? Part Two

by Richard Mikes, PhD & Lana Batts, Transport Capital Partners, LLC

New Equipment Cost Escalation

Annual cost increases for equipment in the last two decades has been around 7% per year, with most of the increases incurred in the last decade being due to EPA mandated engine changes adding approximately $15,000 per truck, coupled with poorer fuel economy and increased maintenance costs. Clearly, someone must pay the equipment bill as freight moves on truck assets owned by someone. Obviously brokers do not want to own, and even some carriers don't either, preferring instead to use independent contractors. Without adequate compensation for their capital or labor, contractors have been fleeing the industry. The economic returns to capital must be there or capital will not flow to the industry long term. This was evidenced by the fleet downsizing of the last few years. Lenders who have been 'burned' by repossessions and bankruptcies are not likely to return without seeing solid earnings evidence. The recent upward trend in Class 8 purchases is not to expand but rather to replace as carriers with an older fleet face mounting maintenance costs and a looming driver shortage.... Read More

With an average workforce age of 59 and the current shortage is estimated at approximately 20,000 drivers, I'm not going to make the argument a driver shortage doesn't exist. It's an issue that isn't going to go away any time soon. With the current trend continuing, the shortage is estimated to reach somewhere in the neighborhood of 110,000 by 2014. That's right…in the next four years the shortage could get worse by a factor of four. At present, some companies are experiencing turnover rates in the range of 70% - 120%, so it's frightening to imagine what things might look like four years from now.... Read More

Did you ever ask yourself why a driver shortage results in high driver turnover? As industry professionals we understand that the relationship definitely exists and readily accept the fact that a tight driver labor market will force higher turnover.... Read More

There's a hole in our collective boat and we're doing little more than bailing. The trucking industry continues to fight record turnover rates, leaving companies scrambling to cover lost productivity while they recruit and re-train new drivers as fast as they leave. For larger carriers, it has become a revolving door effect. ... Read More