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Industry Regulations Creates Challenges for Truck Drivers
As high demand for transporting goods increases, truck drivers are increasingly hard to come by throughout the United States. Currently, it is estimated that the US trucking industry is short about 50,000 drivers. In a recent survey conducted by American Transportation Research Institute, driver shortage ranked first among industry concerns. As the economy strengthens, more freight is available for drivers to haul. With low unemployment rate throughout the industry, median salaries for drivers is up to about $53,000 annually.
Recent regulatory changes have made potential drivers harder to come by. The first regulation limits a driver to working 70 hours in 8 days; the second limits a workday to 14 consecutive hours; the third limits driving to 11/14 hours of a workday. And since last December, drivers have had to log hours through an ELD (Electronic Logging Device), rather than paper records. With the introduction of the ELD, the regulations for work hours are being strictly enforced to adhere to driver safety.
Another industry challenge is the lack of parking to take breaks and adhere to regulations. With the economy stronger, there are more drivers on the road. The surplus of drivers creates another issue: an increased difficulty in locating parking. Tech solutions are being used to find parking spots, but they do not solve the issue for lack thereof. To accommodate the increasing demand for truckers, highways will have to expand rest stop areas to accommodate for the additional drivers. Many people believe that more parking would mean an increase in productivity, lower fuel costs, less pollution and greater pay. Altogether, these benefits would help to make the job more attractive.
Contributor: Garrett Applegate
About Allyn International
Allyn International is dedicated to providing high quality, customer centric services and solutions for the global marketplace. Allyn's core products include transportation management, logistics sourcing, freight forwarding, supply chain consulting, tax management and global trade compliance. Allyn clients range from small local businesses to Fortune 500 firms. Allyn conducts business in more than 20 languages and has extensive experience in both developed and emerging markets. Highly trained experts are positioned throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia. Allyn’s regional headquarters are strategically located in Fort Myers, Florida, U.S.A., Shanghai, P.R. China and Prague, Czech Republic. For more information, visit www.allynintl.com.
References:
Postrel, Virginia (2018, June 25). Tougher Regulations, Lack of Parking Present Challenges for Truck Drivers. http://www.ttnews.com/articles/tougher-regulations-lack-parking-present-challenges-truck-drivers