OOIDA on improving retention: ‘Put it on the paycheck’

It is not unreasonable for truck drivers to be expected to be paid for their time on the job.

That was one of OOIDA President Todd Spencer’s messages to administration leaders during a supply chain roundtable discussion on Thursday, Dec. 16, in Washington, D.C. As supply chain issues have led the news in recent months, OOIDA has been vocal in its stance that truck drivers should be compensated for all of their time and that the overtime exemption should be repealed.

“Anyone who runs an office knows that you’re not going to get people to come to work for you if we say, ‘You need to be here at 7 or 8 in the morning, but I may not start paying you until 12 or 1 or maybe even 2 or 4.’ But that is the reality for drivers every day,” Spencer told Land Line Now’s Scott Thompson. “They are expected to give away that portion of their time. We have to find ways to better than that.”

Supply chain roundtable

The roundtable was led by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and included Spencer, as well as representatives from several large motor carriers. The Biden administration is focused on recruiting and retaining more drivers in the industry.

Spencer said compensation will go a long way toward that goal.

“Pay for truck drivers has largely been stagnant for 40 years or so,” Spencer said. “It needs to get better. It needs to improve, and drivers certainly all – rightfully in my opinion – believe their time has value. And they believe others in the supply chain should recognize that too. Put it on the paycheck.”

An issue that Spencer said most on the roundtable agreed on was the need for more places to park. Last month, OOIDA made a request to Buttigieg for $1 billion in discretionary funding to be used toward the construction of truck parking.

“We have to recognize that as a genuine need for the country,” Spencer said.

In a statement about the roundtable, the White House said the pandemic placed a spotlight on the important role trucking plays in getting essential goods to families and businesses.

“It also elevated the preexisting challenges facing the trucking industry, which suffers from high turnover rates, an aging workforce, and a rise in unpaid wait time,” the White House said.

White House plan

Also on Dec. 16, the Biden administration announced a plan to reduce barriers to drivers receiving a CDL, expand the use of apprenticeships and the recruitment of military veterans, and launch an initiative aimed at making trucking a more attractive long-term career.

Although much of the plan is focused on recruitment, the administration also will launch the Driving Good Jobs initiative aimed at improving the quality of trucking jobs. The program will include listening sessions with truck drivers as well as a driver compensation study and the creation of a task force to investigate predatory truck leasing programs.

As part of the increased outreach, the U.S. Department of Transportation hosted a driver forum on Dec. 16 in South Carolina. OOIDA Executive Vice President Lewie Pugh attended the forum and told Transportation Secretary Buttigieg that truck drivers are often apt to leave the industry because of a lack of compensation and truck parking, as well as because of too many regulations.

“We definitely need to think about the future of the industry, but it has been brought up multiple times today that we need to think about the people in trucking right now,” Pugh said.

“Drivers are always on the hook. There’s a book with the thickness of the Bible full of regulations that truckers have to follow. Let’s look at these regulations, and keep the regulations that make sense. There are so many regulations that have nothing to do with safety whatsoever. Guys are so sick of being overregulated.” LL