As self-driving truck developers get ever closer to utilizing fully driverless on-highway tractors, they are also creating a set of new, unique job functions that will be imperative to support self-driving fleets in real-world freight operations. Even without a driver, autonomous trucks “will still depend on trained professionals to prepare, inspect, dispatch, monitor and maintain the vehicles as they haul loads between designated freight hubs on specific stretches of highway.” Read more
Artificial intelligence is spurring on unfathomable new opportunities for logistics and supply chain management. Despite this fact, many organizations remain uncertain about how best to move forward with implementation. Chris Caplice, the executive director of the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics, exclaims: “AI is a moving target… it’s not sitting still; it’s aspirational because what was considered AI 30 years ago — even 20 years ago — is not considered cutting-edge AI anymore. It’s always that thing that exceeds our grasp.”Read more…
GFL Environmental subsidiaries in Georgia are about to finalize a “a consent decree meant to end a workplace discrimination lawsuit from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.” The lawsuit, filed in September 2023, claimed that GFL, along with subsidiaries Waste Industries U.S.A, Waste Industries Atlanta and TransWaste Services, would habitually refuse to hire qualified women applicants for truck driving positions. According to the lawsuit, the companies instead sourced the positions to less qualified male applicants.
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Despite the multitudinous benefits and career opportunities within the truck driving industry, women have historically been underrepresented in the sector, partly due to the number of obstacles women face in training, hiring and operations. The American Research Institute released new research this summer that “identifies key challenges, proposes practical solutions, and establishes best practices for women truck drivers, addressing both entry barriers and ongoing issues in the industry.”
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To become a truck driver one only needs a high school diploma, a CDL license, and to be open to transporting “raw materials and goods across the country from distribution and retail centers, or manufacturing plants,” in addition to the expectation of planning routes effectively in order to meet delivery schedules. With that said, according to Indeed.com, a truck driver can expect to earn up to $106,496 per year, all without having to deal with the stress of an office environment. Read more…
Humbled-based U.S. Logistics Solutions (USLS) has laid off over 2,000 employees via text messages and conference calls noting that operations were to be shuttered. The sudden decision by the Charlotte, North Carolina-based private equity firm, Ten Oaks Group, to halt funding “did not come with the customary WARN notice—a federal requirement that mandates a 60-day warning for mass layoffs.” Read more…
It is imperative that truck drivers try to make sure their industry history is as “clean and credible as possible,” especially with Federal regulations demanding that background checks be done on every driver. Amongst the many reasons that carriers need to hire the best available drivers they can find, two of the most important to consider are the enormous cost of losing a lawsuit and “the catastrophic impact of a ‘nuclear verdict.’ Read more…
Insights from CEOS and Directors have helped “in the quest to discover the most fertile grounds for recruiting the next generation of warehouse and logistics talent.” These Execs have revealed their top schools for finding interns and recent grads, from the best schools for supply chain talent to the best ways for tapping into the array of local talent pools. Read more…
Since the Class B Standardized Military Truck, or the “Liberty Truck,” debuted at the beginning of World War I, “skilled operators have been needed for military operations. As trucks improved during and after the war, they became vehicles society relied on for the rapid advent of new technologies and transportation systems.” It is now reported that veterans from the various branches of the U.S. military “operate more than 170,000 non-combat trucks in dozens of models. Each of these trucks has one thing in common: There is a skilled driver behind the wheel. It is for this reason that many commercial motor carriers so highly prize drivers who have served in the military.” Read more…
There isn’t much to write home about in regards to Truck transportation jobs in June, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting jobs dropping by the smallest of increments: “Changes up or down are reported by the BLS in increments of 100 (unless they’re zero), and that is the change reported by the BLS for June: a decline of 100 jobs to 1,548,600 jobs.” Read more…
