The national truck driver shortage is expected to reach 50,000 by the end of 2017, with the gap widening to 174,000 by 2026. It's time to get serious about finding solutions.
"American truckers are expecting the amount of freight moving across U.S. highways to grow quickly in the next few years. Will they have the ability to carry it? Standing in their way are a number of issues, including a growing driver shortage." If that sounds to you like a quote from the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals' latest "State of Logistics Report" or a recent American Trucking Associations press release, that's understandable. But it's not. Those words actually appeared in a 1989 article in Purchasing magazine.
Today, some 28 years later, the problem persists. In a report released in October, the American Trucking Associations (ATA) warned that the industry would be short about 50,000 drivers by the end of 2017—the highest level on record. If current trends hold and freight volumes continue to rise, the shortfall could widen to 174,000 by 2026, according to the report, "Truck Driver Shortage Analysis 2017."
As for the reasons for the shortage, some of it has to do with demographics: an aging work force, the 21 minimum age requirement for interstate drivers (which effectively eliminates candidates in the 18-21 age group who are often in the process of choosing careers), and a lack of interest among women in driving as a career.
But that's just part of the story. As we all know, lifestyle issues play into it as well. Few U.S. workers want a job that keeps them away from home for extended periods and forces them to subsist on a truck-stop diet of chicken-fried steak and macaroni and cheese. Further complicating matters, a rapidly strengthening economy means more job alternatives are available to current and would-be drivers, the ATA report notes. These include construction jobs, which tend to be local and don't require the extensive travel truck driving does—attributes that are liable to appeal to job candidates, the report points out.
Solving the problem will likely require efforts on multiple fronts. For instance, at the ATA's Management Conference & Exhibition in October, U.S. Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta announced the formation of a task force to promote apprenticeship programs for workers in industries like trucking—a move that could lead to more opportunities for paid on-the-job training. This has been suggested by the ATA in the past and could expand the driver candidate pool, with the government providing subsidies to those who qualify. The administration has expressed support for the program, and hopefully, there will be a quick follow-through. Omaha, Neb.-based truckload and logistics giant Werner Enterprises has had such a program in place for some time, enrolling over 38,000 drivers, many of whom have received government benefits in addition to their salaries.
Another part of the solution may be ensuring better treatment of drivers. For as long as we've heard about driver shortages, we've also heard about the mistreatment of drivers at shipping and receiving facilities—including complaints about lack of access to restrooms and having to endure lengthy delays. There is no question that the shipper community could do better in this regard. While some companies have adopted policies aimed at improving the driver experience, a surprising number have not or have become lax. They would do well to remember that this problem will not be solved by the carriers alone.
What about those self-driving trucks that are all over the news? To those who say autonomous vehicles will solve the problem, I say "maybe." I believe we are several years away from widespread utilization, but down the road, as use expands, the technology could very well appeal to a broader base of younger workers. As jobs go, being the on-board supervisor of a driverless truck would be far less stressful than operating one of today's big rigs—and in all probability, far more fun.
Supply chain planning (SCP) leaders working on transformation efforts are focused on two major high-impact technology trends, including composite AI and supply chain data governance, according to a study from Gartner, Inc.
"SCP leaders are in the process of developing transformation roadmaps that will prioritize delivering on advanced decision intelligence and automated decision making," Eva Dawkins, Director Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice, said in a release. "Composite AI, which is the combined application of different AI techniques to improve learning efficiency, will drive the optimization and automation of many planning activities at scale, while supply chain data governance is the foundational key for digital transformation.”
Their pursuit of those roadmaps is often complicated by frequent disruptions and the rapid pace of technological innovation. But Gartner says those leaders can accelerate the realized value of technology investments by facilitating a shift from IT-led to business-led digital leadership, with SCP leaders taking ownership of multidisciplinary teams to advance business operations, channels and products.
“A sound data governance strategy supports advanced technologies, such as composite AI, while also facilitating collaboration throughout the supply chain technology ecosystem,” said Dawkins. “Without attention to data governance, SCP leaders will likely struggle to achieve their expected ROI on key technology investments.”
The British logistics robot vendor Dexory this week said it has raised $80 million in venture funding to support an expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) powered features, grow its global team, and accelerate the deployment of its autonomous robots.
A “significant focus” continues to be on expanding across the U.S. market, where Dexory is live with customers in seven states and last month opened a U.S. headquarters in Nashville. The Series B will also enhance development and production facilities at its UK headquarters, the firm said.
The “series B” funding round was led by DTCP, with participation from Latitude Ventures, Wave-X and Bootstrap Europe, along with existing investors Atomico, Lakestar, Capnamic, and several angels from the logistics industry. With the close of the round, Dexory has now raised $120 million over the past three years.
Dexory says its product, DexoryView, provides real-time visibility across warehouses of any size through its autonomous mobile robots and AI. The rolling bots use sensor and image data and continuous data collection to perform rapid warehouse scans and create digital twins of warehouse spaces, allowing for optimized performance and future scenario simulations.
Originally announced in September, the move will allow Deutsche Bahn to “fully focus on restructuring the rail infrastructure in Germany and providing climate-friendly passenger and freight transport operations in Germany and Europe,” Werner Gatzer, Chairman of the DB Supervisory Board, said in a release.
For its purchase price, DSV gains an organization with around 72,700 employees at over 1,850 locations. The new owner says it plans to investment around one billion euros in coming years to promote additional growth in German operations. Together, DSV and Schenker will have a combined workforce of approximately 147,000 employees in more than 90 countries, earning pro forma revenue of approximately $43.3 billion (based on 2023 numbers), DSV said.
After removing that unit, Deutsche Bahn retains its core business called the “Systemverbund Bahn,” which includes passenger transport activities in Germany, rail freight activities, operational service units, and railroad infrastructure companies. The DB Group, headquartered in Berlin, employs around 340,000 people.
“We have set clear goals to structurally modernize Deutsche Bahn in the areas of infrastructure, operations and profitability and focus on the core business. The proceeds from the sale will significantly reduce DB’s debt and thus make an important contribution to the financial stability of the DB Group. At the same time, DB Schenker will gain a strong strategic owner in DSV,” Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz said in a release.
Transportation industry veteran Anne Reinke will become president & CEO of trade group the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) at the end of the year, stepping into the position from her previous post leading third party logistics (3PL) trade group the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), both organizations said today.
Meanwhile, TIA today announced that insider Christopher Burroughs would fill Reinke’s shoes as president & CEO. Burroughs has been with TIA for 13 years, most recently as its vice president of Government Affairs for the past six years, during which time he oversaw all legislative and regulatory efforts before Congress and the federal agencies.
Before her four years leading TIA, Reinke spent two years as Deputy Assistant Secretary with the U.S. Department of Transportation and 16 years with CSX Corporation.
Serious inland flooding and widespread power outages are likely to sweep across Florida and other Southeast states in coming days with the arrival of Hurricane Helene, which is now predicted to make landfall Thursday evening along Florida’s northwest coast as a major hurricane, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
While the most catastrophic landfall impact is expected in the sparsely-population Big Bend area of Florida, it’s not only sea-front cities that are at risk. Since Helene is an “unusually large storm,” its flooding, rainfall, and high winds won’t be limited only to the Gulf Coast, but are expected to travel hundreds of miles inland, the weather service said. Heavy rainfall is expected to begin in the region even before the storm comes ashore, and the wet conditions will continue to move northward into the southern Appalachians region through Friday, dumping storm total rainfall amounts of up to 18 inches. Specifically, the major flood risk includes the urban areas around Tallahassee, metro Atlanta, and western North Carolina.
In addition to its human toll, the storm could exert serious business impacts, according to the supply chain mapping and monitoring firm Resilinc. Those will be largely triggered by significant flooding, which could halt oil operations, force mandatory evacuations, restrict ports, and disrupt air traffic.
While the storm’s track is currently forecast to miss the critical ports of Miami and New Orleans, it could still hurt operations throughout the Southeast agricultural belt, which produces products like soybeans, cotton, peanuts, corn, and tobacco, according to Everstream Analytics.
That widespread footprint could also hinder supply chain and logistics flows along stretches of interstate highways I-10 and I-75 and on regional rail lines operated by Norfolk Southern and CSX. And Hurricane Helene could also likely impact business operations by unleashing power outages, deep flooding, and wind damage in northern Florida portions of Georgia, Everstream Analytics said.
Before the storm had even touched Florida soil, recovery efforts were already being launched by humanitarian aid group the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN). In a statement on Wednesday, the group said it is urging residents in the storm's path across the Southeast to heed evacuation notices and safety advisories, and reminding members of the logistics community that their post-storm help could be needed soon. The group will continue to update its Disaster Micro-Site with Hurricane Helene resources and with requests for donated logistics assistance, most of which will start arriving within 24 to 72 hours after the storm’s initial landfall, ALAN said.