How to improve the supply chain

Improving America’s supply chain has been a hot topic throughout the pandemic.

In recent months, the U.S. Department of Transportation provided 62 recommendations on how it believes that can be done.

Of special note to truck drivers are recommendations to address the nation’s truck parking crisis and the lack of overtime pay to truckers.

The expansion of truck parking availability and the urging of Congress to eliminate the motor carrier overtime exemption in the Fair Labor Standards Act are among the policy recommendations to improve the supply chain.

“It’s encouraging that the Department of Transportation appears to be listening to truckers’ concerns,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer said. “We certainly appreciate their support for Congress to eliminate the Fair Labor Standards Act overtime exemption for motor carriers. This is a legislative change OOIDA has been pursuing on Capitol Hill for years. We are hopeful DOT’s support will encourage lawmakers to finally reverse this outdated policy. However, when it comes to parking, we don’t need more studies that produce the same results proving what we have known for decades, that there is a critical shortage of parking. The time has come to invest hard dollars into hard concrete pavement.”

Truck parking

The U.S. DOT report makes the recommendation to “support state DOTs and the private sector to develop and implement strategies that expand truck parking availability consistent with local land use considerations and address safety of rest areas.” The impact of the recommendation is listed as “high,” while the complexity and cost are considered “medium.” Also good news, the action is marked as something that can be completed in the “near term.” Addressing the lack of truck parking is one of the U.S. DOT’s solutions to ease supply chain bottlenecks.

OOIDA has made no secret about the need for safe and easily accessible parking for truck drivers. In recent months, OOIDA and the American Trucking Associations asked Buttigieg to educate state and local partners about the infrastructure bill providing significant increases in accounts where truck parking is an eligible expenditure.

Motor carrier exemption

Another example of OOIDA’s message being heard, the supply chain report urges Congress to eliminate the motor carrier overtime exemption as a way to speed up the disaster recovery response.

The U.S. DOT considers the impact moderate, the complexity medium and the cost low. The timing of the action is listed as near-term.

Through letters, stakeholder meetings and public forums, OOIDA repeatedly voiced to the administration that the nation’s supply chain woes start with unfair compensation for truck drivers.

Other report highlights

Out of the 62 policy recommendations, 52 involve trucking in some capacity.

In addition to suggestions on truck parking and the Fair Labor Standards Act, other policy recommendations worth noting for trucking include:

• Invest in battery electric, hybrid equipment and zero-emission fueling infrastructure to combat climate change and further reduce emissions of dangerous pollutants.
• Work with Congress to grant the Federal Highway Administration additional emergency response special permitting and regulatory relief for supply chain emergencies.
• Promote, incentivize and facilitate alignment of operational hours at warehousing facilities, seaports, rail facilities and intermodal transfer facilities and other stakeholders to help mitigate congestion.
• Investigate ways to expedite the Transportation Security Administration’s Transportation Worker Identification approval process.
• Collaborate with partners on the Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee’s Driver Subcommittee when implementing any proposals that will impact the nation’s professional driver fleet.
• Encourage reciprocity among states related to obtaining truck driver credentialing and provide aid to state departments of motor vehicles to hire more commercial driver’s license test examiners.

The recommendation to collaborate with the Driver Subcommittee is another example of the administration’s willingness to listen to truck drivers. The subcommittee, which is chaired by OOIDA’s Spencer, was launched in 2020. At the first meeting in July, the more than 20 commercial drivers on the panel pointed at pay and working conditions as ways to improve retention. LL