US truckload contract rate increases came in hot in the first quarter, rising by low, double-digit percentages at the largest carriers, squeezing shipper operating margins, and challenging logistics planners.
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The Driver Shortage
Truck drivers are the basic unit of transportation capacity and the glue that holds supply chains together. No container or straight truck or trailer moves without, at some point, a truck driver. Even so, trucking companies, especially truckload carriers, often have great difficulty finding, hiring and keeping drivers. Nearly every period of economic growth is accompanied by a driver "shortage," including the recovery that began in 2009.
What's causing the driver shortage?
Is today’s shortage truly a demographic lack of available qualified drivers, or is it a market shortage created by comparatively low pay and unsatisfactory working conditions? How will federal regulations governing licensing, medical testing, safety enforcement and how long drivers may work affect demand and supply? Unless trucking companies, logistics providers and shippers work together to finally resolve trucking’s “driver problem,” transportation and logistics costs will rise substantially, and supply chains will be put at risk.
Read more:
10 Reasons for Driver Turnover and What Carriers Can Do About It
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News & Analysis
09 Apr 2018
Full enforcement of the electronic logging device mandate began April 1, but inspectors issued a slew of violations in early 2018, federal data show.
14 Mar 2018
CSX service returns back to normal at the 59th Street terminal in what is a rough winter for shippers.
01 Feb 2018
National drayage company adds third company in its drive to expand through organic growth and acquisitions.
11 Dec 2017
Even as demand for truck-transported cargo rises, truck companies are struggling to add drivers, due to competition from better-paying jobs in other sectors.
13 Nov 2017
False logs are an "epidemic," and shippers are vulnerable, speakers tell the JOC Inland Distribution Conference. The latest federal data back them up.
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