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Driver Shortage Ends as Recession Hits, But is Likely to Return

August 8, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Earlier in the pandemic, many were worried about the continuation of America’s truck driver shortage, especially as the health crisis drove up the demand for essential product delivery significantly. As expected, the United States initially saw an impact on timely product shipments to fulfillment centers and for last-mile deliveries.

As recently as April, shoppers were in a “necessity mindset” in regards to food, drink, and tobacco products, which showed an 85 percent year-over-year increase. The number of total online orders was up by 21% percent. Sporting goods was up 86 percent, toys and games–60 percent.

Industry experts were saying last-mile delivery was hit hard by non-licensed industry entrants, as well as older drivers who feared contracting COVID-19 on the job. As big-rig driving requires a CDL, the lack of trained drivers available to hit the roads was hurting the extremely necessary replenishment of fulfillment centers as demand continued to rise.

But now, with a sharp decline in the health of the American economy, the highly-scrutinized truck driver shortage is over–for the time being. With the country’s recession well under way, the amount of freight needing to be hauled within multiple trucking sectors has heavily decreased.

Before the coronavirus was at the forefront of everyone’s minds, the American Trucking Associations claimed the trucking industry was about 60,000 drivers short due to retirements out-pacing the entrance of sufficient new drivers into the industry.

While these statistics still hold true, the country’s current economic climate has brought an even larger impact to the trucking industry as a whole.

“The fundamentals of why we had a driver shortage did not go away,” said Bob Costello, Chief Economist for ATA. “Demographic issues, age, gender, lifestyle issues [remain]. But, for the moment, what has changed is [that] the demand side of the equation has fallen significantly.”

Although some areas of trucking, such as grocery store restocking and medical supply delivery, have continued going strong, others have not. Flatbed and tanker operators have struggled with a large drop in overall demand.

According to a recent DAT Truckload Volume Index, refrigerated, dry van, and flatbed loads hauled by truckload carriers dropped 19% in March and 8% in April on a year-over-year basis.

One major issue that was originally of major concern was the closing of State Driver licensing Agencies. With the supply chain relying on new commercial truck drivers, and the trucking industry “accountable for moving 71 percent of all freight across the country,” these closures were detrimental at the beginning of the pandemic, said the CVTA.

These shut-downs left “many future drivers unable to obtain commercial learner’s permits and commercial driver’s licenses,” said CVTA president, Don Lefeve. “Abruptly halting the process of getting 25,000 to 40,000 new truck drivers trained, licensed, and on the road impacts a number of significant industries and the nation’s supply chain.”

Although the current need for new truckers has declined, there is still the obstacle of major changes in training for those who are entering the industry, Lefeve explained.

“You can’t have that many people in the truck anymore,” he said of social distancing guidelines in regards to training instruction. “We will not be able to ramp back up to full capacity because we have to train under the Centers for Disease Control guidelines, social distancing, [and] wearing masks, which limits the number of students you can have truck at a time. It’s going to be a slow, hard, slog.”

Lefeve believes the number of industry-entrant drivers obtaining their CDLs will drop by 40% in 2020.

Luckily, training has been impacted by new technology, such as simulated driving systems, becoming mainstream in the process. “It’s an option that more and more schools are looking toward,” Lefeve explained. “There’s no substitute for getting behind the wheel and getting comfortable in the cab, but simulators are a fantastic way to aid in training.”

In regards to those who are attempting to find work as a truck driver, those who are motivated and experienced–and who have solid safety records–will have a much better chance at finding work, said DriverReach CEO, Jeremy Reymer.

“Any of the truck drivers that are unemployed, let go, furloughed…they’re going to find employment. There is employment out there,” he said. “But, I think companies are more selective now. If you’ve got a good safety record and a good attitude, you’ll be fine.”

Although the demand for drivers is currently lower than usual, Costello says the shortage will return as soon as the economy starts healing.

“When the economy gets back, I fully expect the driver shortage to come back, maybe even worse than before,” he said. “We don’t know how many people will take this opportunity for people to leave the industry.”

Positive Changes for Trucking Amid the Pandemic

August 7, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, trucking companies have been looking for ways to adapt and innovate to the changes the industry has faced.

In a recent survey by the American Transportation Research Institute and the Owner Operators Independent Drivers Association, data showed that about 80% of survey respondents, who were either small fleets or independent owner-operators, did not have a business plan ready for the major changes brought on by COVID-19.

“I think going forward, it would behoove everyone in the industry to think about what lessons we learned and how can we document that in our research and in [trucking] operation,” said ATRI president and COO, Rebecca Brewster. “How can we make sure, going forward, [that] this has less of an impact on us as an industry and as we service the nation’s needs?”

At the early June WorkHound webinar regarding long-term transportation changes amid the current health crisis, Brewster also added that a positive change for ATRI has been the “tremendous amounts of data” benefiting the industry as it progresses.

For some trucking companies, virtual on-boarding processes and paperless driver bill of ladings have lowered the need for in-person interactions so that employees and truckers can continue social distancing. Bay & Bay Transportation‘s director of operations, Jackie Giefer, said these changes are going to become a permanent part of her company. She also said she wants light to continue being shone on safer truck driver parking throughout the country following the protocols put in place from this pandemic.

“Our company has probably gone through more change over the past two months than we probably ever have,” said Frank Hurst, president of Roadrunner Freight. “We deployed technology to allow our folks to work from home. We reorganized our entire sales team during this process, as well. We really went from a customer-facing force to a virtual sales force in a matter of days.”

Permanent at-home work situations seem to be growing across many companies.

“Many things have changed for us,” said U.S. Xpress chief people officer, Amanda Thompson. “The biggest change is that today, our office staff is almost entirely operating from home. U.S. Xpress has moved from less than 1% of office employees working from home to more than 95% of office employees working from home. This was put in place in an extremely short period of time.”

U.S. Xpress has recently implemented methods of working with drivers to overcome pandemic-related obstacles.

“We are also increasing our use of technology to help support our drivers who clearly cannot work from home,” Thompson continued. “We have added new features to our in-cab technology, including visibility of roughly 40,000 tractor-trailer parking locations.” The company also added a feature for in-cab devices to locate grocery stores so drivers can find meals more easily.

The company has also deployed safety-centric tools for delivery drivers, said Thompson.

“We’ve worked to make the delivery process as frictionless as possible for [drivers] by attempting to digitize forms for them and our dedicated accounts. This builds on our efforts to streamline and improve efficiencies for both our drivers and customers,” she said.

Although proving difficult, this particular time is one of exciting, positive change, said chairman and CEO of TransLand, Mark Walker.

“Out of every one of these crisis situations comes wonderful opportunities for innovation, and we are seeing that across the board,” he explained. “The words ‘agility’ and ‘resiliency’ come to mind. We had to turn on a dime. All of a sudden, we had more employees capable of working from home. In two weeks’ time, we went from having our on-call people able to work from home to having virtually 100% of our office staff able to work from home.”

For Bay & Bay, company culture has also seen a positive boost, and Giefer says the company’s staff has actually become closer than ever.

“Our drivers are invaluable, and they are leaning on us every day now,” said Giefer. “They don’t get to sit and chat in truck stops with one another and share their experiences; they’re staying in the trucks. Now, they are calling us and telling us what’s going on out there. We are really staying in touch with our drivers. It has really pulled us all together as one big family.”

More positive outcomes, according to Brewster, are that the entire country has been focusing on the value of truck drivers, and that less detention time, and better overall treatment for truckers, have come to the forefront.

Last-mile delivery is also likely to become a huge part of the supply chain, as customers rely on receiving goods in a timely manner–which will give a boost to manufacturers, distributors, and the rest of the supply chain. The Paycheck Protection Plan has become a “tremendous safety net that helped alleviate a lot of anxiety and fear” for smaller businesses, according to TransLand’s Walker.

Remote Compliance Reviews Expanded During Pandemic

August 6, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The usage of remote motor carrier safety compliance reviews during the coronavirus pandemic will be expanded, announced the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration recently.

According to the new guidance, the FMCSA will conduct compliance reviews “by leveraging all available technology” to access information during this national health crisis, “and thus limit exposure risk for the regulated community and safety investigators.”

“Using the same standards otherwise applicable, the FMCSA will assign safety ratings following a compliance review, even if no on-site review activities have taken place,” the agency continued.

FMCSA said this new expansion is an effort to bring further clarity to motor carriers at this time, and will remain in effect until the revocation of the COVID-19 national emergency.

“Because of travel restrictions, social distancing, and other advisories associated with the COVID-19 public health emergency, and the desire to limit exposure risk to the regulated community and safety investigators, FMCSA will conduct compliance review of motor carriers and assign safety ratings,” the agency explained.

FMCSA said it has a legal obligation to determine whether or not an owner or an operator of a commercial motor vehicle can drive safely, and will assign safety ratings to fleets after extensive operation and record examinations.

“FMCSA carries out this statutory duty by assigning safety ratings to motor carriers following in-depth examination of the motor carrier’s records and operations using the Safety Fitness Rating Methodology,” said the FMCSA. “Since adoption of the SFRM in 1997, the mechanisms and tools FMCSA uses to access information from motor carriers has continued to evolve, making compliance reviews more efficient, and lessening the burden of the regulated community.”

The agency can now make these determinations remotely with the array of new technology available instead of by conducting examinations in person, as was done previously. Electronic record-keeping allows the FMCSA to perform the exact investigative functions that it would have been doing only by in-person reviews.

Carriers can transmit information directly to the FMCSA through an online portal, where they can securely upload necessary documents. Motor carriers often maintain their records via electronic services and may prefer to directly submit records from the application in which they are stored. Carriers can also fax or email documents to FMCSA. The agency may also substitute in-person interaction with email and telephone or video calls for a compliance review, to later review findings with company officials.

In an off-site review, an auditor requests documents from the carrier and assesses a carrier’s overall safety management methods and safety performance in order to conduct a remote examination.

Until recently, when a carrier scores highly in one or two Behavior Analysis categories (such as Compliance, safety, or Accountability), the carrier has been eligible for an off-site audit. In 2018, however, the FMCSA said the updated process would not allow serious carrier problems in basic maintenance violation cases, and would instead be focusing on less-serious issues.

Carriers with known safety issues, as well as new-entrant carriers transporting passengers or hazardous materials, have not been able to qualify for off-site testing.

After a review, a carrier receives a rating of either “satisfactory” or “unsatisfactory.” With an unsatisfactory safety rating, the FMCSA has determined that a carrier cannot continue operating in interstate commerce. Prohibitions will be imposed to an unfit carrier after 45 to 60 days if the needed safety improvements are not implemented.

According to Dave Osiecki, president of Scopelitis Transportation Consulting, off-site compliance audits have been mainstream for a while now. The number of off-site audits increased by over 400% from 2018 to 2019, and are set to more than double through 2020.

Off-site compliance reviews were conducted in only 10 states between 2010 and 2018; in 2019, off-site audits took place in 48 states. Now, FMCSA investigators conduct off-site reviews in all 50 states.

These off-site audits typically don’t result in carrier safety ratings, but can result in fines and penalties for some violations. If acute violations are found, though, these audits can become comprehensive investigations, which could bring a necessary safety rating assignment.

FMCSA will assign safety ratings after a compliance review during the time of COVID-19, the agency said, even if there have not been any on-site review activities.

New Online Safety Training Released for Fleets

August 6, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

ClearDrive online training programs will now be available for commercial drivers, Instructional Technologies Inc. announced.

Instructional Technologies provides an array of training solutions across the transportation industry, and said its ClearDrive programs will be accessible for delivery van, work truck, and commercial sedan drivers. The defensive driving courses available on the system are meant to aid in safety improvements for delivery, mobile sales, vocational, and service fleet operations.

There are many courses which cover the safety issues drivers will most often have to face along urban and residential routes. These challenges include: common distractions, planning, fatigue, hazards, stops, space management, parking, speed control, loading, unloading, and customer interaction and communication, said ITI.

“Whether driving is the job, or driving gets your employees to the job, good defensive driving habits are essential for preventing crashes and injuries, and limiting a company’s liability,” said CEO and founder of ITI, Jim Voorhees. “According to the 2019 Travelers Risk Index, one in four businesses have had an employee get in a distraction-related crash while driving for work. ClearDrive can cost-effectively deliver the training your mobile workforce needs to reduce that risk and improve safety for your employees and other motorists.”

All courses utilize ITI’s unique advanced learning management system, which is backed by the company’s quarter of a century in training truckers. The program is based on master-level learning principles that require drivers to score 100% at each step of the course before moving on to the next section.

“With the increase in deliveries to homes and businesses during the coronavirus shutdown, risk mitigation is even more important for delivery and light-duty vehicle fleets,” Vorhees explained.

ClearDrive, while focusing on hazards that are often associated with driving operations in which drivers move in and out of vehicles frequently, also offers short and simple courses. ITI says its programs use easy-to-understand presentation methods that are logical and progressive, along with fast-moving narration, so that drivers can learn about important safety techniques quickly and efficiently.

Instructional Technologies, Inc. also has course add-ons that aim to help drivers prevent injuries on the job, with programs like OSHA and warehouse courses. Additionally, companies can implement methods offered by ClearDrive to create custom-made courses tailored to a specific company’s standards and needs. A transportation company can work with ITI’s production team to make a unique course program just for its employees.

Voorhees explained that these courses are especially important to fit into a company’s new business practices with all the changes brought on by COVID-19. “A ClearDrive professional defensive driving course is the first step toward keeping drivers on the front lines, and others, safe.”

A particular innovative system offered by ClearDrive uses ITI’s Sentix Pro, a learning management system with seat-based pricing. ITI says Sentix can simplify the on-boarding process for new and beginning drivers as well as manage training outlines, and that it gives automatic assignment tools for training based on telematics and hiring dates.

Users can track progress and course competitions in Sentix, as well as schedule courses for any specific group in ongoing training. The learning management system implements HR systems into its programs.

ITI is currently offering free training regarding operating during this time of pandemic. The course is called “COVID 19: What Delivery Drivers Need to Know,” and helps delivery drivers better understand the effects that the coronavirus will have on their work and on the industry as a whole, as well as how it can affect their safety on the job. The course trains these drivers by using step-by-step directions on how best to keep themselves and others safe while they continue delivering essential goods in the wake of the virus.

“[While] hauling critical supplies across North America every day, professional truck drivers are on the front lines of the global COVID-19 pandemic,” said Voorhees. “This information will help stem the spread of the virus and keep drivers safe during this critical time.”

The online course also offers up-to-date information straight from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding coronavirus systems, how the disease is spread, and what to do if you get sick. Some of the driver-specific topics it covers include: how and when to clean or avoid frequently-touched areas both inside and outside the vehicle, what important regulatory changes are in place at this time (such as Hours-of-Service rule changes and CDL expiration guidelines), operational concerns (such as shipper closures), ways to avoid distracted driving, how to manage stress in a difficult situation, and lifestyle changes (like reducing person-to-person contact in break rooms, driver lounges, and at vending machines).

FMCSA Offers Flexibility to Truckers in Final HOS Rule

July 27, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The final rules for hours-of-service regulations, which have been in the works for months, have finally been published by The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. This effort, the agency says, is meant to bring further flexibility for truckers across the country.

The final regulation, effective 120 days after its publication date in the Federal Register, was announced recently by Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, along with FMCSA Acting Administrator Jim Mullen. The rule has four new revisions regarding the most-voiced concerns truckers have brought to light–including the time split in sleeper berths, for instance, as well as the mandatory 30-minute rest break.

According to Mullen, the revisions came from taking into account 8,000 public comments received by the agency. These changes were made to bring “needed flexibility in the lives of America’s truckers,” he explained.

Now, the final HOS rule will allow for more flexibility in regards to mandatory rest breaks of 30 minutes by instead requiring one break after eight hours of driving. The break can include a driver using an “on-duty, not driving” status as opposed to just an “off-duty” status.

Sleeper berth exceptions have also been implemented, as drivers can now divide the required 10 hours of off-duty time into two split periods–either an 8-hour/2-hour split or a 7-hour/3-hour split. These periods will not count against a driver’s 14-hour total driving window.

“Each of these changes were based on the feedback we received from the thousands of public comments we received during the rulemaking, and through the listening sessions we held around the country,” Mullen said. “It is also important to note that this new rule will not increase driving time and will continue to prevent [commercial motor vehicle] operators from driving more than eight consecutive hours without at least a 30-minute change-in-duty status.”

Still, the HOS rule also changes the exception for adverse driving conditions, as the maximum window for driving during inclement weather has been extended by two hours.

Exceptions for short-haul routes have also been made available to drivers–their maximum on-duty period has been extended from 12 to 14 total hours. The distance limit in which a driver can operate has also been extended from 100 air miles to 150 air miles.

“This new final rule will improve safety for all motorists and increase flexibility for America’s truckers,” said Chao. “Each of these areas of reform are designed to provide much-needed flexibility to drivers while maintaining safety on the roads. This has been a deliberate and careful process.”

American Trucking Associations submitted comments to the FMCSA regarding these changes, and ATA’s vice president of safety policy, Dan Horvath, said that the association supported the majority of proposed regulation changes when they were first announced. However, he also said the ATA was not necessarily on board with short-haul air mile radius changes, saying more carriers may not need to implement electronic logging device usage as a result. ATA has been in full support of ELD usage since they first became available.

“Overall, we’re happy to see the final rule released,” said Horvath. “It’s not everything that we had supported in the past, but it’s certainly a good step in the right direction. We’ll continue to work with the agency on making sure that whatever hours-of-service regulations remain in place are offering drivers flexibility and backed by safety.”

Mullen also pointed out truckers’ important roles throughout the coronavirus pandemic, and said this new rule will boost regulatory efficiency for the industry during this time.

“In the past few months, we have seen the heroic actions that truckers have done to keep up our supply chain, keep it open, and ensure that American families, businesses, and hospitals are able to make the deliveries and receive the products that we all need,” Mullen said. “Their efforts have been inspirational and should make all Americans proud.”

“Each of these areas of reform are designed to add flexibility and regulatory savings for the motor carrier industry, which is critical for our nation’s economic recovery,” Chao added.

Although many in the industry point to safety when referencing these new regulations, it does seem that the savings, as mentioned by Chao, are at the forefront of the reform’s reasoning. Many in opposition to the hours-of-service changes have pointed out that driver fatigue is an increasing, and often deadly, problem in the trucking industry, and that allowing truckers more flexibility in choosing break and resting time lengths as well as the ability to drive for longer periods of time will increase the amount of trucker fatigue–and accidents–on the roads.

Also missing from the final rule is a provision that would pause a trucker’s driving window. This proposed change, which was included in the August proposal, would have called for an off-duty break of at least 30 minutes, but not more than three hours. This would have paused a trucker’s 14-hour diving period (as long as the driver takes 10 consecutive off-duty hours after his or her shift).

$25 Million Directed to Infrastructure Speed Grants in Illinois

July 26, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

$25 million in grant funding is set to help expedited infrastructure project work, according to Illinois Governor Jay “J.B” Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

These Rebuild Illinois funds will accelerate public infrastructure projects across Illinois that can begin as early as this summer–projects which would have faced extreme delays due to many local governments recently losing much-needed revenues. These losses are one effect of a heavy decrease in vehicle travel due to shelter-in-place orders in the wake of the coronavirus. The heaviest hit comes from toll fees and fuel taxes, and overall state transportation revenue is planned to decrease by about $50 billion throughout the next year and a half, according to The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

“This will keep key public infrastructure projects in the pipeline and will support the return of skilled labor to job sites for the busy summer season,” said Pritzker in his announcement last month. “Starting today, local governments with shovel-ready projects, including school districts, townships, and other entities, can apply for this funding.”

Those eligible for grants include local governments and public entities with important public infrastructure projects in the works that could begin within 90 days of receiving their funds. Projects eligible for funding must also be public assets, not have recurring expenses, and must be permanent. They must also meet “shovel-ready” guidelines and the Illinois’ Business Enterprise Program minority business participation requirements.

“This program is about putting people back on the job now,” said Tim Drea, President of Illinois AFL-CIO. “We applaud Governor Pritzker for being proactive and innovative. The return of every dollar spent on public works is another brick in rebuilding our economy, both in terms of jobs created and economic development created by improved infrastructure.”

Fast-Track grant source funding comes directly from Rebuild Illinois, which is a $45 billion plan passed to offer Illinois’ first comprehensive capital plan in over 10 years. DCEO is also spearheading multiple programs under Rebuild Illinois, such as funding new public works projects, investing in broadband capacity expansion, incentivizing business development, and other efforts that will work to promote economic growth throughout the state.

The grant program is one of multiple economic growth efforts implemented by DCEO to help promote economic health after the challenges of COVID-19, and is initiating relief programs that will allow over $100 million to become available to areas throughout Illinois. Some of these relief programs include: the Downstate Small Business Stabilization Program, the Emergency Small Business Loan Fund, Emergency Hospitality Grants, and other efforts that will serve communities and businesses in need.

“We recognize the unique challenge and burdens that COVID-19 is placing on us all, and we are taking steps to provide relief to businesses and communities,” said director of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Erin Guthrie. “Through the Fast-Track Public Infrastructure Grants program, the administration will provide a much-needed boost for works across the state as well as the critical infrastructure projects our state depends on.”

Fast-Track front-loads part of a Notice of Funding that will push forward available funds between $500,000 and $5 million. These grants will be dispersed on a rolling basis, and will be prioritized to areas that are most in need.

The main goal of these grants is to restore significant public works projects that may have been paused or cancelled due to COVID-19. These funds will be used toward projects like water and sewer system expansion, school modernization reinvestments, and bringing necessary updates to other public buildings. They will also help laborers return to work in time for the upcoming construction season.

Communities that may need more time or that do not currently have projects meeting the shovel-ready criteria can submit an application to receive a grant for remaining funds by the end of June. DCEO is also conducting a series of webinars with local governments to give more information on these new Fast-Track Grants. You can find a list of upcoming outreach efforts, as well as more small business resources, here.