Letters: Keeping LTL Drivers, Raising Weight Limits

Keeping LTL Drivers

I have enjoyed your articles and the interviews found on your website and others. I have educated myself on CSA [the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s new Compliance, Safety and Accountability initiative], the driver shortage and the new hours-of-service rules that are soon to be released.

Unfortunately, very large less-than-truckload companies don’t believe drivers need to know what’s coming down the pike, so no information is shared. The contempt and disrespect toward drivers is very disturbing and is going to be a huge problem within six months.

Your industry forecast is one many drivers have seen coming for a long time, and a lot of them don’t believe the companies can — or will — change before it is too late. Many drivers are looking for an escape that is anything but driving a truck or working in the trucking industry.

In my 17 years as a professional driver, I have seen one particular thing that has caused more damage to the driver pool than anything else: nondrivers working as managers and dispatchers.

These people don’t think they need to understand what goes on in the truck because they know what goes on in their cars. They get so focused on their performance goals and productivity numbers that they forget there is a human being doing the work.

These managers look at a computer report that tells them a trip though downtown Los Angeles at 5 o’clock on a Friday should take only 20 minutes, when in reality it takes two to three hours. As a driver, you are then told you still have to get all your work done, and traffic is no excuse.

Consultants and experts are devoting much time and effort to fixing these problems, but very little focus is placed on understanding why the problems exist.

Perhaps managers need to get out in the field — as in the TV show “Undercover Boss” — and experience the work rules and job demands placed on drivers.

Things might be fixed more quickly if CEOs and other managers had to go without lunches or breaks, had to stay on duty for 16 hours per day (I work under California’s HOS rules) and then had to return to work after a mere 10 hours away from the truck.

How about managers learning to pack a trailer “high and tight?” And understanding that “going paperless” means a driver has a dozen more forms to fill out so the office doesn’t have to?

How about chaining up a truck and set of doubles in seven minutes (the amount of time the computer model allows) when it’s 35 degrees Fahrenheit and sleeting outside?

Managers keep adding tasks for the driver without remembering the dozens and dozens of other tasks the driver already has to accomplish. Just because a computer model says it can be done doesn’t mean it can be done by the human being operating the equipment.

A trucking operation should be a team effort — drivers and support staff such as mechanics, office staff, dispatchers and sales people. Understanding and fixing support staff deficiencies will go a long way toward building driver loyalty and solving retention issues.

Colin Young

Driver

Mission Viejo, Calif.

Raising Weight Limits

I take strong exception to the current stampede toward higher gross-vehicle-weight limits for trucks (“TCA Changes on Weight Limit; Backs Higher 88,000-Pound Cap,” TTNews.com, 10-19; click here for previous story).

No mention seems to be made of the higher costs of pulling these heavier loads and the additional wear and tear on tires, suspensions, brakes and other components. Trucks will wear out faster. Roads will degrade more quickly.

Who will pay for these increased expenses? The shippers won’t. I have yet to read a single sentence that even suggests there will be a surcharge, or better yet, an increase in rates to reflect the “improved” savings and flexibility that these new limits will afford.

The reason there is a truck and driver shortage right now is because rates have been too low for too long. When the recession crashed down on those of us in the industry, many companies and owner-operators started closing up because we have not been afforded decent rates in decades.

If you want to see improvements, re-regulate the rate process so as to afford truckers a decent rate of return.

George Imperatore

Manager

Old River Services LLC

River Vale, N.J.