While the question of truck driver pay has divided drivers and carriers for a while now, Reliance Partners’ Vice President of Safety Brian Runnels “believes it’s a conversation worth having.” While trucking has always followed the model of not making money while wheels aren’t turning, Runnels believes “drivers today desire greater flexibility and aren’t as willing to trek 3,000 miles a week as previous generations did.” Read more…
Newly reopened in a JD Food facility near Fresno, California, the John Lawson trucking school held a ribbon cutting ceremony this past Thursday. Funded by federal dollars through the Fresno Economic Development Corporation, “the school wants to double the number of students” to bring a whole new generation of truckers into the workforce. Read more…
Though Walmart’s plan of hiring 40,000 new employees ahead of the busy holiday season is lower than last year, holiday season staffing is as strong as ever. Amongst the positions quickly filling up are “approximately 1,500 full-time, permanent truck drivers with starting pay up to $110,000 a year.” Read more…
According to a RABA research poll, Pennsylvanians aren’t exactly ecstatic about sharing the road with self-driving trucks and other vehicles. When asked how comfortable they are “sharing the road with ‘highly automated, driverless vehicles,’ over half of respondents said they were either ‘somewhat uncomfortable’ or ‘very uncomfortable’ with the idea.” Read more…
On Sunday, September 18, the Maine Professional Drivers Association will be holding its 24th annual Trucking for Kids Convoy in “an effort to help Camp Sunshine and Camp POSTCARD raise funds for operations.” Activities will include: a touch-a-truck event, a truck show, a driver competition, raffle items, food, and much more. Read more…
Last year, during the height of the supply and transport challenges resulting from the pandemic, a survey concluded that 96% of truck drivers felt their job was appreciated, while this year that number has dipped to 67%. Amongst other surveyed questions, “83% of U.S. truck drivers say they experience daily challenges with recent increases in fuel prices, and almost three quarters (74%) say they are concerned about the pressure to work longer hours due to the driver shortage.” Read more…
While working in the trucking industry can be “stressful and exhausting,” the salary is often excellent, especially if you work in long-haul routes or work with special loads. The industry offers countless types of cdl driver jobs, but the ones amongst the highest paid are: private fleet, ice road trucking, car haulers, team driving and owner operator. Even though these positions are associated with “higher risks,” experienced and well-trained drivers can find fruitful careers in a sector that’s currently going through a shortage. Read more…
Bridgestone Americas announced a massive expansion and modernization of its Warren County, Tennessee Truck and Bus Radial Tire Plant located in Morrison. Bridgestone plans to invest $550 million dollars into the project which “will add 380 new jobs and expand the plant’s existing footprint by 850,000 square feet to support increased capacity and to accelerate the use of advanced technologies that support cleaner, safer and more efficient commercial truck and bus fleets.” Read more…
An owner of a contract company that has been running for almost 10 years and has employed almost 50 people has been forced to fire an employee after receiving several complaints from customers over political messaging on the worker’s truck. While “60 percent of workers say they believe that discussing politics at work is unacceptable… 57 percent of workers still admitted to talking about politics while on the job.” Read more…
Flames that ravaged a Wilbur Way storage yard in South Sacramento this past week destroyed several semi-trucks, leaving at least four drivers jobless. Harvinder Pahal, a truck driver for more than 25 years, who has parked his Volvo big rig in the lot since 2014, did not only lose his truck in the fire, but is now also out of a job with no income to support himself. The fire is still under investigation by the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District. Read more…
