Qualifed Driver Shortage Linked to CDL Training Standards

CDL Training

What has always been termed as a truck driver shortage, is now being referred to as a shortage of qualified drivers.  It is a manipulation of words in order to achieve the success of a particular agenda.  A shortage of truck drivers has never existed, nor does it exist today.  So what is the agenda this time and what exactly does “qualified” mean?

Whenever there is a shortage within any kind of vocation, pay normally will rise in order to offset the shortage.  Truck driver pay continues to remain stagnate and has virtually remained the same for decades.

While looking through a 1993 edition of Overdrive Magazine, a company was advertising starting pay at .38 cents per mile.  I checked out their website today, in 2011 and they are showing their starting pay at .38 CPM.  In 18 years, their beginning pay has not changed.  To claim that there is a truck driver shortage, with no pay increase incentive ever being enacted, is a contradictory of terms.

Regulations push drivers away

As a series of new rules and regulations are imposed by the FMCSA such as the CSA, PSP’s, EOBR’s, HOS rule changes and the possibility of OBMS’s, truckers have never been more regulated and many seasoned, veteran drivers are calling it quits.  Still, thousands of unemployed workers are turning to trucking as a career after being told by company recruiters and CDL schools that they can make $50,000 per year.  During a time of a lengthy recession, when millions have lost their jobs, the promise of a high-paying career is hard to ignore.   Too many are lured into an industry which averages $32,000 per year for an experienced driver and are never told about the true realities of OTR trucking.

Moving away from a negative term of a truck driver shortage, the trucking industry is now using “qualified” as their chosen word.  This new terminology has been brought about due to the CSA.  Qualified now stands for a driver who has no crash or serious violation history, reference the PSP (Pre-Employment Screening Program).  For years, professional truck drivers have been pushed by their company to get the load picked up and delivered.  Violate HOS rules, run double logs, average 3-5 hours of sleep per day . . . do whatever it takes to move the freight;  and the drivers’ got the job done.  Now, these same drivers are being terminated by the very companies that pushed them into this performance.

Many trucking companies with these drivers who have accumulated violation points for doing what they were told, are being terminated and replaced with new drivers.  Through the CSA, these new truck drivers will not have a three and five year look back, no points or violations on their driving records and this gives the illusion of a better BASIC safety score for the motor carrier.  In this industry, never believe that there is any loyalty from the company to its drivers.

NAFTA is best alternative to lower pay

Could there be another agenda as to why NAFTA is being pushed so hard by the industry?  It is well known that before an industry can recruit and hire those with H2-B visas to work in the United States, that the industry must show that there is a need for these new workers.  Among the requirements, an industry must:

Establish that its need for the prospective worker’s services or labor is temporary, regardless of whether the underlying job can be described as permanent or temporary;Must demonstrate that there are not sufficient U. S. workers who are able, willing, qualified, and available to do the temporary work and . . .Must show that the employment of H-2B workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U. S. workers

The Comprehensive Safety Analysis provides the trucking industry with the reason it needs to use the term “shortage of qualified drivers“.   Experienced American drivers who are now being pushed out by the motor carriers who allowed them to run illegal in the first place, can now say that they can not find qualified drivers;  “qualified” as it pertains to the CSA.

Forcing out experienced, seasoned long haul truck drivers who demand a higher pay scale and replacing them with foreign drivers who will accept lower wages . . . this is the agenda of the industry.  If the fear of a lack of qualified drivers were true, then why is the industry not restructuring their CDL training programs in order to produce safer drivers?  Why is the FMCSA not addressing the CDL training problem?   To create safer highways, you must produce safer drivers.  If the industry was really concerned about a shortage of qualified truck drivers in the U. S. , then CDL training standards would be implemented.

The terrible tragedy which involved the CRST truck in Wyoming is only a reminder of the poor truck driver training standards that exist in this country.  Blame can not be placed on the CRST trainer who was sleeping in the bunk at the time of the crash.  When a person is fatigued and tired, the body must sleep.  One can only go so long before the body will shut down on its own.  The problem is not with the trainer, but with the training standards of the particular motor carrier, which is established by the industry.

There are starter companies which will allow a driver to become a trainer with as little as three to six months experience, yet the FMCSA ignores this serious safety issue.  Through out the statistics found in the Trucks Involved in Fatal Accidents file (TIFA), there are no stats correlating fatal truck crashes associated with new driver trainees.  There should be.

Standards must be established to where the trainer and student remain awake and active together during the entire training process.  Both trainee and trainer must be allowed to stop and sleep during the same period of time.

The trucking industry, for too long, has treated drivers like they themselves were machines.  A driver trainer has a larger degree of mental and physical responsibility placed on them and when the body reaches it maximum capability, the trainer will have no other option but to sleep and receive the rest needed.

Regardless of the fact that many trainees and trainers make it through the process without incident, the tragedy in Wyoming is a reminder that one senseless death is one too many and that these types of accidents will continue until stronger CDL training standards are established within the industry and safety becomes the true agenda.

© 2011, AskTheTrucker. All rights reserved.

: basic safety score, cdl training, CSA, driver psp, FMCSA, motor carrier, Safety, truck driver, truck driver shortage, trucking

Tagged with: basic safety score • cdl training • CSA • driver psp • FMCSA • motor carrier • Safety • truck driver • truck driver shortage • trucking

Filed under: FMCSA • Jobs and Careers • Politics • Safety • Truck Driving Jobs • otr trucking • truck driving schools • trucking • trucking companies • trucking life

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Driver shortage, small fleet survivability will vex all carriers in 2011

While large carriers are likely to find 2011 a challenging yet lucrative year, they should keep an eye out for their smaller brethren. That?s because an influential survey indicates that small fleets [under $25 million revenue] -- which provide a large chunk of capacity? are ?vulnerable to a sluggish economy and increased fuel prices? unless they get rate relief ?quickly and broadly.? In addition, the same study shows carriers of all sizes are very concerned about securing enough drivers and owner-operators.

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According to Transport Capital Partners, LLC (TCP), which handles transportation M&A as well as capital sourcing and offers advisory services, its latest Business Expectation Survey hasfound that ?both drivers and independent contractors (IC) are on carriers' minds.?  About three-fourths of the fleets responding to the survey use owner-operators..

Of these fleets, 57% saw their IC counts remaining steady, about 29% are using various means to recruit and finance fleet additions, and the balance are seeing declining numbers. ?Lease purchase plans by one in ten fleets are popular along with ICs who finance elsewhere or [using] a combination of methods to attract contractors,? said TCP partner Richard Mikes.

?With credit conditions expected to remain the same over the next year, it is understandable that carriers are interested in building IC numbers as both a source of drivers and capital," pointed out TCP partner Lana Batts.

The respondents also clearly indicated they are ramping up their driver recruitment efforts, both to prepare for the expected rise in freight volumes next year but also as something of a hedge to help blunt the anticipated painful impact of the new federal CSAA safety rules on the ranks of existing drivers.

?Over three-fourths of the responding carriers indicated that they are recruiting for driver openings that represent zero to ten percent of their driver force,? per the TCP report. The firm said this response reinforces expected increases in freight over the year ahead while slightly more than one in six are recruiting for 11-20% of their driver force.  ?The uncertainty about the impact of CSA 2010 maybe accelerating recruiting efforts,? noted Batts.

Another key question queried asked about plans to raise driver wages in 2011. Two-thirds of the respondents expect to see increases of zero to five percent.

?Even with a weak economy approaching 10% unemployment, this increase affirms an underlying capacity constraint,? pointed out Mikes. ?Only 20% expect driver wages to be flat.?

The survey also asked carriers if they?ve given any consideration to leaving the field or liquidating their operations. For the second quarter in a row, those replying ?yes? rose slightly to 18%.

When broken down by carriers above and below the threshold of $25 million in revenue, the smaller fleets that said ?yes? were at 25% compared to only 10% of the larger ones, TCP pointed out.

Both Batts and Mikes cautioned that ?in general, carriers under $25 million are less optimistic on volumes, rates, and credit availability.  This indicates a sizable portion of carrier capacity may be vulnerable to a sluggish economy and increased fuel prices unless rates increase quickly and broadly.?

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Truck Driver Shortage is Industry Created

Allen Smith of Truth About Trucking, LLC

By: Aubrey “Allen” Smith

Truck driver shortage to reach 400,000

The main stream media needs to listen to truck drivers before reporting on a nation-wide shortage of drivers.   Reports of a truck driver shortage are now swelling to as high as 400,000 for 2011 and 2012.  The cause of the shortage is being blamed on the slow economic recovery, tighter regulations on drivers and the impending CSA.  Whatever the reasons, the catastrophic fear of a truck driver shortage always seems to appear every few years or so.

Shortage of truck drivers is industry made

Not that the main news outlets are really concerned with the truth about the truck driver shortage, let’s lay it out here anyway.  As I first publicly exposed nearly five years ago, that there never has been, nor is there . . . a truck driver shortage.  This shortage is a self-made fabrication, brought on by the industry itself, largely in part to continue the turning over of more experienced, higher paid drivers for the newer, inexperienced drivers at a lower pay scale . . . cheap labor.

The truck driver shortage myth has been thrown out there for years, mainly due to the ATA and their so-called studies.  Debunking the shortage fabrication is actually very simple to do, by looking at two factors :  freight rates and driver pay.

Cheap freight kills Owner Operators

Freight rates have stagnated for years now.  Coupled with the trucking company lease purchase scam, it has literally destroyed many of our nations’ owner operators.  A true truck driver shortage would cause freight rates to go up, yet that has never been the case.  The absence of any significant rise in freight rates would suggest the complete opposite of a truck driver shortage.  Furthermore, if a true driver shortage existed, shippers would be facing the problem of finding trucks to transport their goods and stores would be having trouble keeping their shelves filled with products . . . neither of which has ever happened.

Driver pay forces drivers to quit

In the past, the ATA has used the industry’s turn-over rate as one reason for the truck driver shortage.  The 2005, ATA commissioned study, The U.S. Truck Driver Shortage: Analysis and Forecasts, reported that driver pay is one of the main factors in the driver turn-over.  Before the recession, driver turn-over had reached a whopping 128%, higher than any other industry.  In the midst of the recession, this rate had dropped to 56% and eventually further to around 43%, with some estimates as low as 39%.  Not because things had gotten better for drivers, but because there were and is still no jobs to go to.  As freight begins to pick up and trucking companies step up their hiring process, the turn-over rate among drivers is once again beginning to rise.  If and when the economy ever stabilizes, I can assure you that the turn-over rate will eventually rise again to its previous levels, yet we will still see no appreciable difference in the pay rates offered by carriers.  Again, there has been no significant increase in truck driver pay in decades, thus debunking any facts for a real driver shortage.

Motor carriers focus on hiring, not retention

Motor carriers focus so much of their time and effort on hiring drivers and fail to focus on the real problem of retaining truck drivers.  Many of these companies have no interest in the retention of drivers.  The more experienced the driver, the higher the pay demand.  Cheap freight calls for cheap labor, thus the need for constant recruiting of the recent CDL school graduate.  There is literally more money to be made from Government subsidies and grants than there is by transporting the cheap freight.

The Commercial Motor Vehicle Operator Training Grants (20.235) for example, is a grant provided to persons who train current and future drivers in the safe operation of CMVs.   It’s purpose is to promote the safe operation of Commercial Motor Vehicles, as defined in 49 U.S.C. 31301, through financial assistance.  This particular grant is not available to  individuals, only those who train individuals such as the CDL schools or trucking companies which have their own CDL training program.  It is offered through the agency of the D.O.T. and office of the FMCSA and authorized through SAFETEA-LU.  The amount of Grants range between $50,000 to $222,000.

If retention issues were really a cause for a driver shortage, driver wages would increase in order to retain the drivers.  All the actions being carried out by these motor carriers are a complete opposite effect to actually stop the rate of turn-over among truck drivers, and in attracting and maintaining experienced drivers.

Add to the equation the lifestyle of long haul truckers: away from home, living in a truck, poor diet, lack of sleep and rest, forced dispatch, the CFR’s, HOS rules, DOT, the general public’s attitude, the closing of rest areas, disrespect by carriers, shippers and receivers, along with low pay and cheap freight . . . no wonder truck drivers move on to other vocations.

The industry may be able to fool the media, but truck drivers know the real truth.

© 2010, AskTheTrucker. All rights reserved.

: ata, cdl training, driver pay, driver retention, freight rates, owner operators, truck driver shortage, Truck driving school grants

Tagged with: ata • cdl training • driver pay • driver retention • freight rates • owner operators • truck driver shortage • Truck driving school grants

Filed under: DOT • Dept. of Motor Vehicles • Jobs and Careers • Politics • Truck Driving Jobs • otr trucking • truck driving schools • trucking • trucking companies • trucking life

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Military Vets Could be Answer to Truck Driver Shortage

From Iraq to Trucking

With much of the industry talking about a truck driver shortage due to the impending CSA release, any such shortage is the direct result of former and past practices by the industry itself.   Practices that we have pointed out on many occasions, such as poor training by many of the CDL schools, over exaggerated claims by trucking recruiters and the constant revolving door with new CDL drivers in order for the schools and companies to keep the government grants and voucher money coming in.  If a truck driver shortage truly is looming on the horizon, it can only be due to the abusive nature of the industry toward its drivers.

Further regulations will only add to this self-made problem.  New medical standards will be an attempt to weed out older veteran drivers and the entire industry is now being set up to bring in only the youngest and healthiest of road warriors.  We are hearing from many older, experienced truck drivers who are being terminated or denied employment for small, minute reasons that before, never would have been a concern for the industry.

The youngest and fittest of us all, are our men and women of the U.S. military.  With many of our military veterans coming to the end of their enlistment, Troops2Truckers is preparing our vets for life after the military.  One way they are doing this, is offering a no cost program for CDL training and getting them ready for a life on the road as a civilian.

Currently, Troops2Truckers is offering their CDL training program at the USMC base in Camp Pendleton, California.  The cost of training is paid for through a 100% tuition program and they are under contract with many transportation and logistic companies.  Apparently they understand the industry problem with so many of the CDL schools across the country.  Their website states:  “The main difference between T2T and a truck driving school is our output – we deliver jobs . . . trucking schools deliver diplomas.”

We have been voicing the problems within the trucking industry for quite a few years now, and many have finally stepped up and are admitting that these problems do in fact, exist.  Although there are many good CDL training schools across the country, overall, the majority of trucking professionals know that one of the major abuses of the industry is the CDL training programs.  Students who have graduated as long as a year before, still find themselves sitting at home, with no job and a useless CDL license.  The school however, received their money from the unsuspecting CDL student.

Troops2Truckers state that they have the ability to provide a job after training, under no obligation for the student and no contract to sign.  Our military vets often need help transitioning back into civilian life.  They deserve our help.

Problems still remain such as low pay, poor miles, truck leasing programs that are designed to fail, strict no idling policies, no APU units, no pay waiting time and of course, the self inflicted turning over of drivers for government grant money.   I only hope that the trucking companies who hire these vets will treat them with the respect they deserve and offer viable employment, and not give them the treatment that many of our veteran truck drivers have experienced within the industry.

© 2010, AskTheTrucker. All rights reserved.

: cdl school, cdl training, military, no cost cdl training, troops2truckers, truck driver, truck driver shortage

Tagged with: cdl school • cdl training • military • no cost cdl training • troops2truckers • truck driver • truck driver shortage

Filed under: Education • Jobs and Careers • Truck Driving Jobs • Trucking Company and Driving School Comments • Woman Truckers • otr trucking • student loans • truck driving schools • trucking blogs • trucking companies • trucking life

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The Real Facts on the Truck Driver Shortage - Jun 03,2010

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The Truck Driver Shortage Fabrication - Jul 07,2010

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