Trucking Industry Update February 22, 2019

Trucking Industry Update February 22, 2019

By Jeremy Feucht

Did you Know?

We all know that trucking carries roughly 73% of all goods shipped in the US, but did you know that 94% of all hazardous material moved in the US is shipped via truck?  

Trucking tip of the Week

Trip planning is essential. If it is a lane you have never driven before, planning becomes all that more imperative. When you leave could mean the difference between hitting traffic in a big city or not. Many areas have low bridges that semis cannot fit under. You need to know how to get around those. Knowing the best places to fill up with fuel and where scales are so you are filling up after leaving a scale. Filling up after leaving a scale can help you stay weight compliant yet have a full tank of fuel. Plenty of things to think about when planning your trip.

Driver’s Pay

There are signs that companies may be changing the way they pay their drivers. For the Owner-Operator, that could be a good sign. As companies increase the pay for their drivers in hopes of stabilizing retention rates, fewer and fewer drivers will attempt the owner-operator method. This means more loads on the spot market for them to find. Companies are looking into salaries, amongst other ways to pay their drivers. Wages will be dependent upon their track record and in some cases tenure within the company.  

Technology in Trucking

Companies are doing many different things to ensure the quality of the driver they are putting behind the wheel. Instead of waiting on the government to figure out what should be the minimum amount of training needed before driving, Xpress, the fifth largest carrier company in the US, sought out advice from its own drivers. Moving away from the classroom type setting, Xpress is creating a technology-based, self-paced learning regiment. On top of that, they have created a virtual reality simulator that their prospective drivers must pass long before getting behind the wheel of an actual truck. Could this be the wave of the future?

Toll Roads

Much like Virginia did a few weeks back, Connecticut is moving away from an idea of placing a heavy burden on truckers moving through their state. The governor, Ned Lamont, had sought to create Truck only toll roads in the state of Connecticut. Due to legal issues, he has backed off that idea. Instead, he is looking at creating toll roads across the entire state for all vehicles. The chances of this happening are slim because people, while naïve to the plight of the trucker and they tend not to worry about things that indirectly affect them, will not be in support of something that adds a more direct burden on themselves.