A scarcity of truck drivers is biting into profits

[pandus13]

Originally Posted By: grampi
There needs to be more shipping via rail to get some of the blasted semis off the roads...the roads are already overcrowded...

3 words:
WAITING at Railroad Crossings.....

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted By: pandus13
Originally Posted By: grampi
There needs to be more shipping via rail to get some of the blasted semis off the roads...the roads are already overcrowded...

3 words:
WAITING at Railroad Crossings.....


That's 4 words...and I've got one word for you; bridges...

 

[bubbatime]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
The trick here to driving a truck and making a good living is not doing over the road stuff. You want to work for a business that ownes a truck and delivers their own product. owning your own truck and picking your own contracts.


Fixed it for you. I knew a 26 year old truck driver that owned his own truck, and hired other drivers to drive his other trucks. The guy was a millionaire. You wont get rich working for others.

 

[bullwinkle]

Originally Posted By: grampi
There needs to be more shipping via rail to get some of the blasted semis off the roads...the roads are already overcrowded...
You should see the main RR lines here in Cincinnati (CSX & Norfolk Southern)-there's already train traffic jams because they can't get all the (container) trains through, and it's going to get worse. I know where ALL the bridges & underpasses are, though!

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
Originally Posted By: grampi
There needs to be more shipping via rail to get some of the blasted semis off the roads...the roads are already overcrowded...
You should see the main RR lines here in Cincinnati (CSX & Norfolk Southern)-there's already train traffic jams because they can't get all the (container) trains through, and it's going to get worse. I know where ALL the bridges & underpasses are, though!


That's because the idiots in charge (whomever they may be) over the years have actually decreased our country's railroad capacities instead of expanded them like they need to be...

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: grampi
Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
Originally Posted By: grampi
There needs to be more shipping via rail to get some of the blasted semis off the roads...the roads are already overcrowded...
You should see the main RR lines here in Cincinnati (CSX & Norfolk Southern)-there's already train traffic jams because they can't get all the (container) trains through, and it's going to get worse. I know where ALL the bridges & underpasses are, though!


That's because the idiots in charge (whomever they may be) over the years have actually decreased our country's railroad capacities instead of expanded them like they need to be...


We have the same problem up here, rail is a shadow of its former self and OTR trucks are destroying our roads and highways at a breathtaking pace.

 

[Aichiguy]

I think I can speak intelligently to this topic because I drive a truck for a living. I've been with the same nonunion company for 18 years after leaving a union job. The result was better pay, benefits, equipment, and relationships. I would not want a union to jeopardize these things. I'm out an average of 1 night per year due due weather or breakdown. If I opted for longer route packages (50+ hours per week) I would clear $80k year. I don't think it's money causing the shortage but rather the the demands of the job. You have to be willing to get a CDL. You may have to work a [censored] driving job for experience. As a newbie you will get the worst routes and there will most likely be lots of sleep deprivation. Companies will lose a lot of profits if they don't adequately pay those who transport their goods.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

Originally Posted By: grampi
Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
Originally Posted By: grampi
There needs to be more shipping via rail to get some of the blasted semis off the roads...the roads are already overcrowded...
You should see the main RR lines here in Cincinnati (CSX & Norfolk Southern)-there's already train traffic jams because they can't get all the (container) trains through, and it's going to get worse. I know where ALL the bridges & underpasses are, though!


That's because the idiots in charge (whomever they may be) over the years have actually decreased our country's railroad capacities instead of expanded them like they need to be...


RR Infrastructure repairs are lagging sorely and many trains need to run at reduced speeds to stay on the tracks.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: grampi
Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
Originally Posted By: grampi
There needs to be more shipping via rail to get some of the blasted semis off the roads...the roads are already overcrowded...
You should see the main RR lines here in Cincinnati (CSX & Norfolk Southern)-there's already train traffic jams because they can't get all the (container) trains through, and it's going to get worse. I know where ALL the bridges & underpasses are, though!


That's because the idiots in charge (whomever they may be) over the years have actually decreased our country's railroad capacities instead of expanded them like they need to be...


Not sure who you're talking about. About all the freight companies are privately owned. Only public one would be Amtrak for passenger service and they share a lot of tracks with freight companies. It's up to the business to expand capacity if they need it. Not sure anyone deserves any blame for the current system.

 

[xxch4osxx]

Up here, very few companies will pay a decent wage because they know they can get drivers who will work for peanuts. Not many offer any type of benefits, just a pay cheque and that's all. Gee, I wonder why companies can't find drivers! Why drive a truck and work crazy hours when there are many other jobs out there that pay better and have less stress and have benefits!

 

[skyactiv]

The issue with the trucking industry is that it's cutthroat. The dry van load division is an utter mess with competition.
There are a lot of small trucking firms that employ foreign born drivers that can barley speak English and basically treat them like indentured servants.
They are often from Poland, Russia, the Baltics.. Anytime you see a no name trucking outfit with an Illinois plate on a Volvo semi, theres a good chance that driver is a modern day slave.

 

[MNgopher]

Originally Posted By: grampi


That's because the idiots in charge (whomever they may be) over the years have actually decreased our country's railroad capacities instead of expanded them like they need to be...


You do know the reason railroads decreased in size, right? Trucks offered faster, more flexible, and cheaper transport of goods and services, resulting in much less freight going via railroad. That's where they shed lines that weren't profitable, and quite honestly could barely maintain what they had. They are still in that box - raise rates high enough to allow for more investment in infrastructure, and lose traffic to more trucks. It isn't just some idiot going we should be smaller - flat out they had to survive to get to where they are today. It is amazing that nobody remembers how bad things had gotten for the railroads...

 

[nthach]

Uber is now making a move into freight - UberFreight is now live, it's not quite Otto and it's focused towards smaller operators for now. It might threaten the bigger operators(Schneider/JB Hunt/Covenant/London/Swift) eventually, for now the smaller expediters are probably having a headache. I live near the port of Oakland and you don't see too many big name haulers out there. It's mostly immigrants from the Middle East/India who bought a used day rig and work on contracts for bigger operators or haul off to a drop point. Wal-Mart and Amazon I see quite a bit on 80/580/680.

A friend drove trucks for a while before she decided to go back into non-profit work. She was driving for Swift and was based out of the Portland area. She enjoyed it, the money wasn't there unless she became owner-operator and bought her own rig.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Low pay (paid by the mile, not by the hour), long hours, and US trucks have non-synchronized manual transmissions and drum brakes.

In Europe, truck drivers are limited to 48 hours per week, paid by the hour, and their trucks have disc brakes and synchronized manual transmissions or semi-automatic transmissions

 

[Mr Nice]

Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
Low pay (paid by the mile, not by the hour), long hours, and US trucks have non-synchronized manual transmissions and drum brakes.

In Europe, truck drivers are limited to 48 hours per week, paid by the hour, and their trucks have disc brakes and synchronized manual transmissions or semi-automatic transmissions

I saw a YouTube video about truckers in Europe hauling merchandise for IKEA and were unhappy living in their trucks for months and making little money, they were contracted... not IKEA employees.

Most were from other European countries and really had no other employment options.

 

[fdcg27]

You apparently can make a decent living driving. I've known some who do.
I've always thought that if I found myself really down and out, I could always drive for a living, not that it would be my first choice.
Food for thought for those who can't seem to do well in other jobs with more direct supervision where the scenery never changes.
Pony up some bucks, buy your own rig and you can actually make some real money. I've known a few who've done that as well.
Scarcity brings higher cost, wages in this case. Most of us now here will be long in the ground by the time autonomous trucks are allowed on public roadways, regardless of what the some might have portrayed in rather crude computer animations.

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted By: MNgopher
Originally Posted By: grampi


That's because the idiots in charge (whomever they may be) over the years have actually decreased our country's railroad capacities instead of expanded them like they need to be...


You do know the reason railroads decreased in size, right? Trucks offered faster, more flexible, and cheaper transport of goods and services, resulting in much less freight going via railroad. That's where they shed lines that weren't profitable, and quite honestly could barely maintain what they had. They are still in that box - raise rates high enough to allow for more investment in infrastructure, and lose traffic to more trucks. It isn't just some idiot going we should be smaller - flat out they had to survive to get to where they are today. It is amazing that nobody remembers how bad things had gotten for the railroads...


How can it be cheaper to ship by truck when you can ship the cargo of 100 trucks on one train?

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: grampi
Originally Posted By: MNgopher
Originally Posted By: grampi


That's because the idiots in charge (whomever they may be) over the years have actually decreased our country's railroad capacities instead of expanded them like they need to be...


You do know the reason railroads decreased in size, right? Trucks offered faster, more flexible, and cheaper transport of goods and services, resulting in much less freight going via railroad. That's where they shed lines that weren't profitable, and quite honestly could barely maintain what they had. They are still in that box - raise rates high enough to allow for more investment in infrastructure, and lose traffic to more trucks. It isn't just some idiot going we should be smaller - flat out they had to survive to get to where they are today. It is amazing that nobody remembers how bad things had gotten for the railroads...


How can it be cheaper to ship by truck when you can ship the cargo of 100 trucks on one train?


It's the JIT concept, where they don't have to warehouse as much product because they can have it delivered. Not carrying/warehousing inventory is cheaper due to space. Of course the actual transport cost is likely more with the truck.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: grampi
Originally Posted By: MNgopher
Originally Posted By: grampi


That's because the idiots in charge (whomever they may be) over the years have actually decreased our country's railroad capacities instead of expanded them like they need to be...


You do know the reason railroads decreased in size, right? Trucks offered faster, more flexible, and cheaper transport of goods and services, resulting in much less freight going via railroad. That's where they shed lines that weren't profitable, and quite honestly could barely maintain what they had. They are still in that box - raise rates high enough to allow for more investment in infrastructure, and lose traffic to more trucks. It isn't just some idiot going we should be smaller - flat out they had to survive to get to where they are today. It is amazing that nobody remembers how bad things had gotten for the railroads...


How can it be cheaper to ship by truck when you can ship the cargo of 100 trucks on one train?

Its getting stuff on and off the train from the seller to the purchasers site that costs money. You might need 100 trucks at each end sometimes...
We have a few specialized mines just north of us that haul fine aggregates by truck to customers as far as the SE US and the upper midwest. No load coming back either. They have done shipping containers to go over seas but then its got to be bagged and loaded/unloaded on skids, so apparently its cheaper to just run a truck down right to the customers hopper.

 

[MNgopher]

Originally Posted By: grampi


How can it be cheaper to ship by truck when you can ship the cargo of 100 trucks on one train?


If your metric is fuel consumed, you are right. By that metric, we should be barging everything as that is the cheapest form of transport based on energy consumed...

If your metric is total costs, including time in transport, handling, transport costs on either end, etc... then you are wrong.

Rail is great at covering long distances on its own schedule. Where it stinks is delivering that last mile to the customer. For things that don't make sense to ship in bulk, intermodal containers provide an option to ship via rail service to take advantage of that mode of cost effectiveness. Yet it still takes a truck to get it to the railyard, and then another one to deliver it to the customer.

There is no right or wrong answer - its what the customer demands...