Trucking industry squanders another opportunity to improve
Dear Megafleets,
I just wanted to congratulate you for, once again, taking a golden opportunity and tossing it away.
Only this industry could take a booming economy, a supposed driver shortage, a lack of capacity, and not be able to take advantage of it. In fact, “efficiency” has returned as the buzzword for big carriers.
You had the chance to quit letting the shippers and receivers run your operations, but you’ve chosen lower rates over a healthy industry. Unless the shippers and receivers pay more in rates and detention, nothing will change. This cycle has been going on forever.
Anyone who knows me knows I have a hero in the industry who has been voicing her concerns for 20 years. Anytime I’m involved in a conversation about the ills of the industry, I’m usually going to bring up Joyce Brenny’s name, and what her company, Brenny Transportation, does. I am truly blessed to call her a friend and give her credit for her tireless work. She is more than willing to explain, to anyone who will listen, what her company does to train and retain drivers. She shares why treating your team members like family is so important and how pay, incentives, home time, and personal interactions are all important to keeping drivers, office personnel, and even your customers happy.
The trucking industry knows what to do. They’ve seen what works for the small carriers, but it might negatively affect their bottom line. After all, it’s all about keeping the dividends flowing and keeping investors happy.
Small carriers are profitable even though they use a different philosophy.
For years I’ve heard the top echelon of trucking companies say we need to raise pay. Last year rates went up 30 percent on average due to what was described as capacity shortages. There were many factors, the ELD mandate being one of them. But there were many other extenuating circumstances, including a booming economy.
So what did the industry do? They bought a record number of trailers and raised driver pay by 4-8 cents per mile. They bought a record number of tractors and raised driver pay by pennies. If driver pay had just kept up with inflation, salaries would be double what they are today.
The average driver should be making about $100,000 yearly, instead of the industry average of $46,000.
The industry has all the data, but they choose to ignore it. They know they need to pay drivers more, but they come up with every way to get more “efficient” and keep the rates down.
Now we even have the advent of autonomous trucks. Some experts will tell you that the technology is right around the corner. I’ve noticed that these experts are normally the people looking for investors. Then you have the trucking industry saying that “we’ll always need a driver in the cab.” That’s a great way of saying that we need somebody in the seat, but we will have to keep wages down to pay for the technology.
The bottom line is, who would want to do this job? Low pay, disrespect from shippers, receivers, and management, long hours, and now the distinct possibility that the career you trained for won’t be around in 20 years?
I’ve spent almost my entire adult life in the trucking industry. I’ve lived through the ups and downs, and I’ve enjoyed most of it. I’ve met and been blessed to make many friends. I’ve made a good living. Everything moves by truck and will continue to do so for as long as I’m around. But it’s amazing to me that we can’t look at the past and correct the problems we’ve had forever. I’m constantly being told that I need to quit living in the past and that I need to embrace the industry as it evolves. I’ve tried to do that, but I also try to learn from my mistakes, and that seems to be something the industry can’t seem to get right. LL