Thus the push for the Keystone Pipeline.
Posted on 08/23/2014 7:24:59 AM PDT by upbeat5
Truck driver Anthony Plummer remembers when he was in the middle of the country on a long-haul delivery when he learned his daughter was sick in the hospital.
“I was told to get back [home] as soon as possible. But there are a lot of rules that limit how much I can drive, so I told them I would get back as soon as I could.” It was after this incident that Plummer decided to make a career shift to become a regional truck driver. “It blew my mind if something were to happen and if I was way across the country. Every now and then I still go out there to long run because she is doing better, but it’s rare.”
Plummer isn’t alone with his career move as the trucking industry suffers a shortage of drivers across the board, especially among long-haulers. According to the American Trucking Associations (ATA), the industry is about 30,000 short of qualified drivers. Over the next 10 years, that number is set to rise to 200,000.
The industry, which has an average 115-120% annual turnover rate, according to Brian Fielkow, CEO of Jetco Delivery, a logistics company specializing in regional trucking, also has an aging problem. Bob Costello, chief economist at the ATA, says the average age in the for-hire truckload market is about 49, and for less-than-truckload drivers (LTL) and private carriers the average is about 55.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxbusiness.com ...
This is just code for we want cheap immigrant labor.
And Somalian drivers.
Thus the push for the Keystone Pipeline.
That reminds me-a good job for blacks-keeps them outta trouble and away from their homies.
And Somalian drivers.
That may clean up the road kill.
There has always been a shortage of drivers. I've been with my current company 17 yrs. Once we had a few guys laid off, but within 6 months we were hiring again. Our company even took to an apprenticeships program to fill the slots and we still need drivers most of the time.
Sfl.
Ummm...
...having just returned from a trip to Seattle, lemme give you my first-hand, un-pc observations:
ALL the ‘working’ black people I ran into had thick foreign accents (overwhelmingly Somali, I was told). Cab driers/owners, limo drivers/owners, business operators/owners.
I wasn’t being facetious about the ‘Somali drivers’ comment...but is was, in regards to your comment, a slam against a certain ‘culture’ in many States.
I've been a hiring manager at my company for years and our company is starved, STARVED, for good talent. But we have a hard time filling our positions, many of which pay into six figures.
I am so sick of hearing about "no jobs available" and if that poster shows up who's constantly harping about "bring the jobs back from China", I think I'm going to electronically strangle him.
Trucking is absolutely saturated in regulations that make it almost impossible to be a trucker or run a trucking company.
Probably the same way illegals fly for free without ID.
LOL!
Agreed. Long-haul trucking is a natural for self-driving vehicles as they can run 24x7 with little down time. We’re still 10+ years away from that, however, based on both the maturity of the technology and natural inertia. You also need to build up the infrastructure to support this fundamental transformation (automated refueling stations, etc.). But it will happen soon enough.
My daughter works at a trucking center, and she was telling me how it was changing. Many Muslims, Indians, and Mexicans driving trucks now.
see post 35
They want to bring in Mexican drivers, in addition to those already allowed to drive vehicles not meeting U.S. safety and inspection standards within some distance of the border.
Do you think that the generous SNAP, TANF, section 8 and other benefits (if not disability, too) are discouraging a lot of people from working?
Lots of “Long haul” IS moving by Intermodal (Train) today. Unfortunately the trains can take more time due procedure than long haul trucks to get from A to B., as well the routes of the trains are fixed/set. They just don’t go everywhere the freight is wanted.
Team truckers make the difference on the specialty, time essence loads as by teaming up to drive a single truck, the truck moves 24 hours a day getting to their destinations in half the time of the trains. While one guy sleeps in the sleeper cab the other drives, and vice versa. This is how they get around the limitation on hours that puts a single operator truck down for hours per day. It costs more as well, but customers pay the price for the service.
I’ve seen lots of teams dispatched per day when I was involved. Admittedly it’s been a number of years since I was involved, but I have friends still involved. Talking shop seems to be a natural thing.
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