Trucking Action Plan expected to be unveiled soon

In December, the White House announced the creation of a Trucking Action Plan aimed at making trucking a desirable long-term career. At that time, the administration said it would use the next 90 days to determine administrative and regulatory actions it can take to support quality trucking jobs.

The 90-day mark will be reached this week, meaning that a plan should be unveiled soon.

“Trucking plays a critical role in the U.S. supply chain and economy,” the White House said in December. “America’s truck drivers have been on the frontlines of this pandemic, delivering goods to every corner of this country. Seventy-two percent of goods in America are shipped by truck, and in most communities trucks are the only form of delivery. A strong, stable and safe trucking workforce that offers good-paying jobs to millions of truck drivers is a critical lifeblood of our economy.”

The administration said the U.S. Department of Transportation and U.S. Department of Labor would be hosting listening sessions and meeting with industry stakeholders throughout the 90 days in order to identify “longer-term actions, such as potential administrative or regulatory actions that support drivers and driver retention by improving the quality of trucking jobs.”

Over the first 30 days of the initiative, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and Department of Labor were charged with starting an in-depth study of driver compensation, including the time drivers spend waiting to pick up or drop off freight without getting paid.

Actions slated over the first 90 days of the initiative included launching a task force to promote the recruitment, inclusion and advancement of women in trucking as well as the creation of a task force to investigate predatory leasing arrangements “that dissuade drivers from entering or staying in the industry.”

Although no specific solution has been provided, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has often hinted to the media in recent months that truck driver pay needs to be addressed.

In January, Buttigieg was asked during an interview with NBC about how much truck drivers should be paid.

“Enough to show respect in regard for the fact that they are the very definition of essential workers,” he said.

“It’s not just how much, but how. Truckers, right now, are often not paid for their time. Right now, in too many environments from warehouse environments to port environments, there is no cost to wasting a trucker’s time. We’ve got to fix that.”

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has been pushing for drivers to be paid for all of their time and for the overtime exemption for truck drivers in the Fair Labor Standards Act to be repealed. During a supply chain forum last week, OOIDA President Todd Spencer said that paying truck drivers for all of their time would benefit the supply chain as well as highway safety.

“Some spend 40 hours a week just waiting to get loaded and unloaded,” Spencer said. “And the only reason they spend that time is because it’s donated. It doesn’t cost anyone else in the supply chain. If that inefficiency were corrected, the hours would be fewer. I also should point out that when you’re only paid for miles driven, the incentive will always be ‘I want to drive more miles.’ Maybe I want to drive more miles faster. Maybe I’m going to have to drive in unsafe conditions because of lousy weather. The incentives for drivers aren’t where they need to be, and that shouldn’t be overlooked.”

Buttigieg does ride-along

As part of the 90-day initiative, the Department of Transportation said it planned to talk with truck drivers in order to form a plan to maintain a stable trucking workforce for years to come.

The Secretary Pete Buttigieg Facebook page recently released a video of Buttigieg doing a ride-along with a truck driver named Lola.

Buttigieg on ‘60 Minutes’

Buttigieg appeared on the March 13 edition of “60 Minutes” to discuss the new infrastructure law.

He said the $560 billion investment in transportation is crucial for the United States to improve on its current C-minus grade in infrastructure.

“When the pandemic ends, it’ll get a lot better,” Buttigieg said. “But it’s gonna take years to have the kind of transportation infrastructure that we really need to weather the next shock, whether it’s a pandemic or who knows, a cyber-attack certainly more extreme weather related to climate change. We’ve got to get more resilient for that.

“Look – you know, we’re always shooting for A-plus, but this isn’t like building a house. This is building a country, literally. And some of these things do take time. Each passing year you’ll see more results, and it is gonna take a while.” LL