Category: Trucker News

During tough economic times with high unemployment, Americans should be jumping at any chance to work, but trucking companies are struggling to hire drivers.

There are as many as 200,000 job openings nationwide for long haul truckers, according to David Heller, director of safety and policy for the Truckload Carriers Association.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics also sees the demand for truckers increasing, up from the 1.5 million drivers on the road now. It expects trucking to add 330,100 jobs between 2010 and 2020, an increase of 20%.

But these positions are difficult to fill, and even harder to keep filled.

“Nobody wants to drive a truck,” said Heller.

The pay isn’t bad: Truckers earn a median annual wage of $37,930, which is $4,000 more than the median wage for all jobs, according to the BLS. The top 10% of truck drivers make more than $58,000 per year.

So why do so many long-haul trucking jobs remain unfilled?
Related: 100 Best Companies to Work For

First, it’s difficult to get certified. The biggest hurdle for the unemployed is getting a commercial driver’s license. The training course to learn those skills can take up to eight weeks to complete and cost about $6,000.

“Drivers are put under intense scrutiny before they get into the industry, and for good reason,” said Brett Aquila, trucker and creator of the blog TruckingTruth. “It’s incredibly risky putting someone behind the wheel of an 80,000 pound truck with your company’s name on it.”

And when drivers do get on the road, they find the long-haul lifestyle isn’t easy, living for weeks at a time in the cramped confines of the back of the truck.

“You have a gigantic culture shock when someone is suddenly living on the road in a space the size of a walk-in closet,” said Aquila. “Then you have the pressure, the erratic sleep patterns, and the time away from home, family, and friends.”

For these reasons, job turnover is high for truckers. At the same time, as the economy stages a gradual recovery, more new positions are becoming available.

“When people start to spend more money, that means there’s more freight to move,” said Heller. “When shelves need to be stocked, trucks start rolling. There’s not a thing you own that has not been on a truck at some point.”

Several of the largest long haul trucking companies in the U.S. are hiring. Schneider National, J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT), Swift Transportation (SWFT) and Werner Enterprises (WERN) are aggressively recruiting drivers on their web sites.

Derek Leathers, president and chief operating officer at Werner, said that his company has about 100 open long-haul truck driving positions. The current shortage of truckers has forced his company to work much harder than it used to in order to fill these positions, spending more money on advertising and additional recruiting staff.

Looking for Loads to Haul?http://www.findfreightloads.com/
Looking for Jobs?http://truckerhunt.com/

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration wants to be able to weight crashes in the Safety Management System (SMS) differently depending on a motor carrier’s role in those crashes, but a recent analysis that assessed the feasibility of using Police Accident Reports — called PARs for short — has led the agency to the conclusion that more study was needed.

As a result, the FMCSA Administration Anne Ferro, in an address to the Trucking Association Executive Council here Monday, announced that the agency would undertake a focused initiative to analyze a process for updating the 100,000 annual state-reported crash records to including a determination of a motor carrier’s role in a crash.

“While this analysis is a first step in our effort in examining the feasibility of police accident reports to determine crash weighting, more needs to be done,” Ferro told council members Monday.

Looking for Loads to Haul?http://www.findfreightloads.com/
Looking for Jobs?http://truckerhunt.com/

State police have issued 14 safety violations to the New Jersey trucking company responsible for the tractor-trailer involved in a July 2 truck crash in Norristown.

Norristown Chief of Police Russell Bono said state police conducted a safety check on the tractor-trailer, owned by T&D Trucking Disposal Logistics, based out of Turnersville, N.J., shortly after the accident at Main and Markley streets, and found there to be 14 safety violations.

The driver of the tractor-trailer told police he was attempting to stop the truck at a red light, traveling north on Route 202 from King of Prussia around 1 p.m. that day, when he realized his brakes went out. The truck went careening across the intersection, striking another vehicle and landing perpendicular across the SEPTA train tracks in front of the Main Street station. It ricocheted into four other cars, causing damages.

Police have not yet released the nature of the 14 violations.

Looking for Loads to Haul?http://www.findfreightloads.com/
Looking for Jobs?http://truckerhunt.com/

Jost International has expanded its distribution in Canada through an arrangement with Trans Canada Sales (TCSA). TCSA will represent Jost throughout Canada in an effort to increase customer support at fleets and dealers and strength the distribution network for Jost products, the company announced.

“TCSA has been chosen by Jost as our Canadian representative because they have experience in heavy duty part sales though their association with other premier component brands,” said Rich Carroll, vice-president of sales and marketing for Jost. “Tony Stenner, principal at TCSA, knows the Canadian commercial vehicle industry very well and that was important to us.”

TCSA has been representing heavy-duty brands in Canada for eight years. The company will support the Jost landing gear and fifth wheel product lines and associated components, according to officials.

http://rightnowloads.com/

The volatility of diesel, desire to lessen our dependence on foreign oil and pressure to improve the environmental footprint have made natural gas an increasingly desirable alternative to diesel fuel for the trucking industry. Intense interest in this topic will make the kick off panel discussion at this year’s Commercial Vehicle Outlook Conference – CNG/LNG: Fueling the Future.

The panel will delve into the equipment issues, infrastructure needs and real-world fleet experiences surrounding natural gas technology and will feature:

Dr. Gene Goodson, alternative energy expert and former CEO of Oshkosh Truck, opening speaker and moderator
Dr. Kennon Guglielmo, chief technical officer, EControls
Robert Carrick,vocational sales manager-natural gas, Freightliner Trucks
Dan England, chairman, C.R. England, American Trucking Associations

The panel is scheduled for 1 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012. Other conference highlights include:

Frank Luntz, the “hottest pollster” in America, according to the Boston Globe, and one of the four “top research minds,” according to BusinessWeek, will deliver Wednesday’s keynote address at 3:45 p.m. Luntz will give attendees his unique insights into the potential outcome of the November elections.

Trucking’s Economic Outlook, featuring Jim Meil, vice president and chief economist for Eaton Corp and Avery Vise, executive director of Research & Analysis at Randall-Reilly.

Presented by the Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association and Randall-Reilly Business Media and Information, which produces Overdrive,Commercial Carrier Journal and Successful Dealer, the conference will be held Aug. 22-23, the day prior to and the opening day of the Great American Trucking Show. Registration begins at 11 a.m., Wednesday, followed by a networking lunch. A networking reception will be held immediately following the program on Wednesday. The conference ends at noon on Thursday when The Great American Trucking Show opens.

http://rightnowloads.com/

The amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry was unchanged in May from April after a one-month rise, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ Freight Transportation Services Index released Wednesday, July 11.

BTS, a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration, reported that May’s level of freight shipments declined 3.8 percent from December 2011’s all-time-high level of 114.0. Freight shipments have shown little change since dropping in January, reflecting slowing growth in the general economy.

However, the May index level of 109.6 was the fifth-highest monthly level since the early recession month of July 2008. After dipping to a recent low in April 2009 (94.3) during the recession,freight shipments have increased in 24 of the last 37 months, rising 16.3 percent during that period.

May freight shipments rose 4.3 percent from May 2011 and 16.0 percent from May 2009, during the recession, but remain below the level in May 2008 (110.2) prior to the recession. Freight shipments are up 1.0 percent in the five years from the pre-recession level of May 2007 and up 8.9 percent in the 10 years from May 2002.

The Freight TSI measures the month-to-month changes in freight shipments by mode of transportation in ton-miles, which then are combined into one index. The index measures the output of the for-hire freight transportation industry and consists of data from for-hire trucking, rail, inland waterways, pipelines and air freight. The seasonally adjusted index includes historic data from 1990 to the present. The baseline year is 2000.

http://rightnowloads.com/

Interstate Distributor Co. has announced a new pay package for over-the-road regional drivers. The new “My Pay” package provides drivers a competitive base rate per mile and the ability to add an additional 3 cents per mile quarterly.

“Since joining Interstate in February, I have heard from our driving associates that they wanted to be rewarded for their personal performance and have an opportunity to earn more money,” says Marc Rogers, president and chief executive officer of Tacoma, Wash.-based Interstate Distributor. “We heard their ideas on how Interstate should reward drivers for exceptional performance, and now we’re starting the process of doing something about it.”

Rogers says “My Pay” is focused on safety, service and operational excellence. “Interstate values our driving associates, and the purpose of this incentive is to reward their outstanding performance,” he says. “I’m excited to be a part of such a great organization with committed individuals who do great things every day.”

http://rightnowloads.com/

An attorney for a Texas trucker whose rig was filled with ammunition when he crossed the Mexican border said a re-enactment conducted Thursday confirms that his client simply made a wrong turn and wasn’t trying to smuggle thousands of bullets into Mexico.

A Mexican court allowed local prosecutors and Jabin Bogan’s lawyer to gather with experts at the border-crossing bridge in Ciudad Juarez where Bogan tried to make a U-turn. Bogan has been in a Mexican prison since the April 17 incident, when Mexican custom officials found 268,000 bullets in his truck.

Forensic expert Mario Gomez showed how the 27-year-old trucker blocked traffic while trying to make what he called an “impossible” U-turn back into the United States. Gomez also showed photographs that he said showed the cargo wasn’t hidden, as prosecutors allege.

http://rightnowloads.com/