LOGISTICS RESTRUCTURING AT SUPERMARKET MORRISONS WILL CUT UP TO 300 JOBS

Supermarket Morrisons is planning to restructure its supply chain and logistics operations, with warehouse manager roles at all seven distribution sites set to be truncated with a five-over-seven working week reinstated from last April. Documents seen by The Grocer show how Morrisons plans “to consolidate the number of warehouse manager roles at each site to a single operations manager role. It will also remove team manager roles in its ambient supply chain, reduce roles in its chilled chamber and reduce the number of managers and coordinators working within canteen teams.” Read more

DEAF DRIVER BECOMES A TCA TRUCK DRIVER OF THE YEAR

Deaf truck driver Richard Boehrer, one of the Truckload Carriers Association’s (TCA) five 2023 Drivers of the Year, had always dreamed of someday becoming a truck driver. His path was not without pushback, as “even Boehrer’s uncle, who was a professional driver, couldn’t offer encouragement to the aspiring driver.” He went on to tell his nephew that it would be “impossible” with his impairment to ever drive a big rig, especially with past regulations requiring that all drivers be able to hear. Read more…

TRUCKER JOBS PORTRAYED ON STAGE IN FLORIDA

Dramatist David Proctor’s new one-person play, “Grabbing the Hammer Lane: a Trucker narrative,” is Proctor’s newest stage drama about a truck driver’s life on the road. The Orlando Performer, a website devoted to theater in Central Florida, exults: “Patrons of this show should be prepared to feel a wide range of emotions. In the beginning, there is gentle humor and subtle light jokes scattered throughout. [Later], emotions soar between anger and sadness. It is genuinely moving. This show deals with addiction, forgiveness and loss and has a moral of ‘Tell the ones you are close to, that you love them.’” Read more

110 LOGISTIC JOBS LOST IN INDIANA

A third-party logistics firm headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee announced they are planning to shutter its facility on the west side of Indianapolis. In a WARN notice recently filed with the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, “Kenco Logistic Services LLC said the closure will result in the layoffs of 110 employees.” The company gave no reason for the closure, but “the affected workers have been notified of the move, and the layoffs are scheduled to occur on March 19.” Read more

UEW STRIKE CAUSES FORD’S CEO TO CONSIDER OFFSHORING TRUCK JOBS

After a half-a-billion-dollar loss quarter for Ford, the company is questioning whether transitioning to electric vehicles was the right move, and whether drastic measures such as offshoring will need to be taken in regard to truck jobs in the future. Ford CEO Jim Farley recently made “what some might consider threatening comments about the future of his company’s U.S.-based, United Auto Workers-represented manufacturing workforce.” Read more…

WINTER COLD SNAP LEADS TO SPOT MARKET SURGE IN THE FREIGHT INDUSTRY

The latest report fromDat Freight and Analytics, which controls the DAT One online freight marketplace and DAT iQ data analytics service, states “January spot freight volumes were pushed to all-time highs due to a winter-related bump in demand for truckload capacity.” Ken Adamo, DAT chief of analytics, goes on say: “winter weather increased the need for trucks at a time when shippers were moving holiday returns and springtime retail goods through supply chains, and for-hire carriers were rejecting a higher percentage of contracted loads.” Read more…

TRUCKUCATION SHOWCASES TRADE JOBS DURING TRUCKING INDUSTRY SHORTAGE

The day-to-day operation of trades workers was on full display for those interested in potentially entering that workforce by Truckucation, as the organization hosted its monthly “Trucking and Trades” event to help promote jobs in the trucking industry and various other trades. These kinds of events have become a must with the trucking industry’s recent decline in the number of truck drivers entering the field. Read more

FORWARD AIR AND OMNI LOGISTICS SEAL BUSINESS MERGE

Forward Air completed its acquisition of Omni Logistics recently after the expedited surface transportation provider and global freight forwarder reached a newly agreed upon merger agreement. Plans for the merger were announced last August, but were put on a hold by a series of fights between activist investors, shareholders and the companies themselves. The deal will now allow the two companies to integrate their international and North American operations, adding more high-value freight into Forward’s less-than-truckload (LTL) network. Read more…

TRUCK DRIVER RECOGNIZED FOR FIRST MILLION MILES ON THE JOB

Pauline Jochim was recently recognized by Truckstop.com for achieving her first million miles as a professional truck driver. According to Pauline, her love of driving stemmed from her family’s passion for racing: “When I was a kid, I grew up in race shops, and we did a lot of dirt track racing… I remember, some of the places we’d go, we always saw those semis.” Read more…

SURVEY SEEKS VIEWS ON BARRIERS TO WOMEN PURSUING TRUCKING JOBS

The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) has sent out a new survey to help shine light on what both women and men truck drivers believe to be the obstacles to entry for female truck drivers. ATRI said the survey will also help learn about other challenges that truck drivers encounter while training, on the road, and at parking facilities. The research will take those responses from both men and women drivers to identify and contrast the special challenges faced by female drivers. Read more