Browsing through the trucker websites, I am seeing a lot of mention about the driver shortage. It has been a problem for a while but has become so much more so since the pandemic began. This is resulting in supply chain issues, to the point they are talking about bringing in drivers from other countries and allowing drivers under the age of 21. One thing we do not have a shortage of is the great TMS programs that TMS Digital has to offer. A highly configurable, yet easy to use Dispatch program, IFTA Manager, to help you calculate your IFTA taxes, EDI interfaces, a fantastic Maintenance module, the most organized Driver Safety program around and a wonderful Tickets program for short haul dispatching.
However, I digress. Here is more about the driver shortage.
From Transport Topics: Trucking has emerged as one of the most acute bottlenecks in a supply chain that has all but unraveled amid the pandemic, worsening supply shortages across industries, further fanning inflation and threatening a broader economic recovery.
“We’re living through the worst driver shortage that we’ve seen in recent history, by far,” said Jose Gomez-Urquiza, CEO of Visa Solutions, an immigration agency with a focus on the transportation industry.
Bringing in more foreign workers faces a number of hurdles, including visa limits and complicated immigration rules, but trucking advocates see an opening now to overcome some of those obstacles after the Biden Administration created a task force to address the supply chain problems impeding the economic recovery.
In July, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, and Meera Joshi, deputy administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, held a roundtable meeting with the trucking industry to discuss efforts to improve driver retention and reduce turnover. Among the measures the industry is seeking is lowering the minimum age to 18 from 21 for interstate drivers and adding trucking to the list of industries that can bypass some of the Department of Labor’s immigration certification process. To read more on this from Transport Topic, click here.
From Freightwaves:
Supply chain experts advising the Biden administration want the U.S. Department of Commerce to lead a multiagency effort to address a truck driver shortage they warn has “likely reached an all-time high.”
The International Trade Administration’s Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness (ACSCC), a 45-member panel of industry officials that advises the secretary of commerce on national freight policy, voted at an ad hoc meeting on Wednesday to recommend that the department “take a leadership role to coordinate federal agencies to immediately address the driver shortage that threatens the effectiveness of the nation’s critical supply chains.”
In a draft letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, the committee noted that the pandemic had underscored the importance of supply chains to the country’s economy. To read more of Freightwaves article, click here.
From CDL Life: “Truck driver shortage’ blamed for dry gas pumps in Colorado”
Drivers in Colorado have reported that they’re having trouble finding gas stations that are supplied with fuel — and many media outlets are pointing to a shortage of truck drivers as the reason for the supply chain disruption.
Local outlets have reported gas stations running dry in Pueblo, Canon City, Denver, and Colorado Springs over the past week.A Circle K gas station manager in Lakewood told Denver7 that “We had six days where we only had diesel. We had no unleaded, and we had no premium.”
“Many of these gasoline delivery drivers lost their jobs last year at the beginning of the pandemic. These drivers took their skills to shipping services like Amazon. They took to delivering household items like toilet paper which were in high demand last year. Now that gasoline demand has returned to near pre-pandemic levels, the driver shortage is causing supply chain issues,” the report from AAA Colorado explained. To read more of this on CDL Life click here.
And, to top it off, U.S. Roadcheck results: 4,136 vehicles & 1,083 drivers placed out of service
From Trucker’s News: More than 40,000 commercial motor vehicle inspections were conducted May 4-6 during the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s annual International Roadcheck. During the enforcement effort inspectors removed 6,710 commercial motor vehicles and 2,080 drivers from roadways across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
In the US:
- 19,786 commercial vehicles received Level I inspections
- 4,136 vehicles — or 20.9% of those inspected — were placed out of service
- 1,083 drivers — or 5.5% of those inspected — were placed out of service
Top Five Vehicle OOS Violations in the U.S. (out of 8,293 vehicle OOS violations)
- Brake Systems 2,151 (25.9%)
- Tires 1,643 (19.8%)
- Lights 1,163 (14.0%)
- Brake adjustment 1,051 (12.7%)
- Cargo securement 956 (11.5%)
Top Five Driver OOS Violations in the U.S. (out of 2,477 driver OOS violations)
- Hours of service 832 (33.6%)
- Wrong class license 553 (22.3%)
- Other 481 (19.4%)
- False logs 411 (16.6%)
- Suspended license 127 (5.1%)
