Author Archives: jpeters

TRUCKS REMAIN STOPPED AT MEXICAN BORDER

Posted on by

Economic fallout is exacerbating as “Texas Governor Greg Abbot moved incrementally to roll back new inspection rules for commercial trucks entering from Mexico, with some companies saying they aren’t able to fulfill orders because trucks are stuck in multi-mile backups at a number of entry points.”  Many companies are bemoaning the fact that the added inspections have already cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars, not to mention the smaller paychecks for all the loaders who have had trucks failing to show up.   Read more…

MISSOURI CENTER STAGE IN TRUCK DRIVER SHORTAGE

Posted on by

With burnout from the mental and physical labors of truck driving, especially during a global pandemic, the American Trucking Association has predicted a possible shortage of up to 160,000 drivers over the next decade.  On the bright side, during President Joe Biden’s recent press conference regarding the industry, Missouri was among the states highlighted that are addressing the shortage, with the state raising its trucker employment rate “by more than 8% over the past year, one of just five states to do so.”   Read more…

LOGISTICS JOBS COMING TO SOUTH ALABAMA

Posted on by

Officials predict 80 new logistics jobs will be coming to South Alabama as New York-based DC Safety and Averitt Express will both be expanding their operations to Mobil County, Alabama. Upon the announcements, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey exclaimed: “days like today prove why Alabama’s economic comeback is leading states around the country and why the Mobil area is a major catalyst for the entire state.”  Read more…

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE LAMPOONS TRUCK DRIVERS

Posted on by

Guest host and mega movie star Jake Gyllenhaal poked fun at truck drivers and truck stops on a recent episode of Saturday Night Live which aired on April 9th. Gyllenhaal, along with Saturday Night Live cast Cecily Strong, lampooned everything from drivers having to often pee in a bottle while on the job to the many stories of the fabled “ghost trucker” that many truckers have claimed to encounter.  Read more…

QUITTING ON-THE-JOB TRUCK DRIVER TRAINING CAN BE COSTLY

Posted on by

While truck driver training programs help applicants find positions amongst the nation’s biggest freight haulers, quitting during these courses can often have severe repercussions. Despite the fact many of these programs fail to deliver the compensation and working conditions they promise, “drivers who quit early can be pursued by debt collectors and blacklisted by other companies in the industry, making it difficult for them to find a new job.”  Read more...

TRUCKER DON’T WANT TO DRIVE FOR MEGA CARRIERS ANYMORE

Posted on by

Despite the claim of a driver shortage due to the pandemic, professor Jason Miller claims that they just don’t want to drive for mega carriers anymore. With many claiming that the mega carriers treat them poorly and pay them peanuts, some are becoming owner operators themselves or going to work for smaller carriers.  Miller goes on to share BLD data “which shows that the average size of US trucking establishments plummeted from 10.6 employees at the end of 2019 to 9.4 employees in the third quarter of 2021..   Read more…

WHITE HOUSE UPDATES TRUCKING ACTION PLAN

Posted on by

President Joe Biden addressed multiple important issues facing the trucking industry as part of an update on his Trucking Action Plan (TAP), including ensuring female driver safety from sexual predators and the lack of safe parking for big rigs. The plan initially launched last December by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and U.S. Department of Transportation was to “increase the supply of truck drivers by creating new pathways into the profession, cutting red tape to expand high quality training… and laying the foundation for improving job quality to keep people in the profession.”    Read more…

TRUCKING EMPLOYMENT ENDS TWO YEAR GROWTH STREAK

Posted on by

Though preliminary numbers might change in the next two months, a two year streak of trucking employment growth has come to an end, “perhaps indicating the economy hitting the brakes after unprecedented consumer demand.” According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 5,000 trucking jobs were lost in March, which “marks the first month-to-month decrease since April 2020, when the start of the pandemic wiped out nearly 80,000 trucking jobs.”  Read more…

BOSTON DYNAMICS LOGISTICS ROBOT ALREADY SOLD OUT

Posted on by

Boston Dynamics’ logistics robot “Stretch,” which can unload trailers and maneuver containers of all shapes and sizes, has officially sold out for 2022, with deliveries now only expected for 2023 and 2024.  Stretch can also “access tight spaces and even recover packages that might shift or fall during the unloading, thanks to its advanced vision system and custom vacuum gripper.”  The robot can not only do all of this on its own, but it can also decide what to do next in real time.  Read more…

AUTOMATION WON’T HARM LOGISTICS JOBS

Posted on by

Most experts believe that despite the rapid rise in automation, jobs will largely remain in the warehousing and logistics industries. While many e-commerce giants, including Amazon and Chewy, have begun to utilize automation to improve efficiency, their warehouses will continue to create thousands of jobs for the workforce.  While automation helps with not having to rely on any one single person, there will be a continued need to have the right balance between people and machines for companies to remain fecund.   Read more..