Air Truckers Short of Workers

Air freight traffic is expected to make big gains worldwide this year in weight and revenue. But U.S. air freight truckers fear they may not have all the hands they need to move their share.

An industrywide shortage of drivers, warehousemen and airport cargo personnel was expected to top the list of concerns of participants at the Air Express Motor Carriers Conference annual meeting March 7 to 9 in Las Vegas.

An 11.5% increase in global air freight tonnage is predicted this year, to 29.5 million tons, with a value of about $57 billion. Such a forecast may offer optimism for higher revenues, but it also poses a challenge to air freight truckers.

“This people shortage is having a huge impact on their operations,” said Brian Lagana, executive director of the organization, in a Feb. 26 interview. “They are having a hard time finding people and getting them to stay. There is a lot more competition out there, and there are more jobs than there are people.”

He added that attracting more people to the air freight side of trucking is complicated by the nontraditional aspect of the segment.

“There’s a lot of overnight work, a lot of non-normal hours,” Lagana said. “It almost certainly plays a part in this people shortage.”

Some air freight truckers have suggested putting together a national job bank to ease the crunch, he said.

The industry also faces challenges in information technology.

“Technology plays a bigger role in air freight as opposed to intermodal or other trucking arenas,” Lagana said. “Everyone is operating the same kind of services and are pretty competitive in terms of prices, too. Where they differ is in using technology to provide more information to (shippers) on the status of their freight — tracking it so it will be there when they say it will be there. That’s how they will differentiate themselves and thereby gain or lose customers.”