Many Regs Are Playing Role in Driver Shortage, Executives Say

This story appears in the Oct. 22 print edition of Transport Topics.

LAS VEGAS — While experts have pointed at the government’s new safety program as a major contributor to the growing truck driver shortage, two executives who spoke here during American Trucking Associations’ annual meeting said other lower-profile measures are also playing roles.

Both Kevin Burch, president of Jet Express, and Derek Leathers, president and chief operating officer of Werner Enterprises, said the Compliance, Safety, Accountability program needs tweaking but offers highway-safety benefits. However, the need to attract more drivers requires a reconsideration of other regulations, they said.

“There is too much regulating of a deregulated industry. It is forcing many people out,” Burch said at ATA’s Management Conference & Exhibition.

Some provisions of CSA and the disputed hours-of-service rule are leaving truckers with the impression the government is “further reaching into the cab” to monitor what they do.

As a result, many drivers are exiting the industry because they no longer have the independent lifestyle they had come to enjoy, Leathers said.

But it is more than just CSA or HOS playing a role.

Burch, whose company is headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, said he has a hard time understanding why the same young driver can travel long distances on extremely crowded interstates within the borders of Ohio yet cannot travel a much shorter route that crosses state lines.

“The industry needs to wake up and get some statistics showing the value of younger drivers” and illustrate to the government that, when properly trained, they are safe,” he said.

The Department of Transportation regulates interstate commerce and requires commercial drivers to be at least age 21. However, individual states regulate intrastate commerce, so people often can obtain and use their commercial driver license at earlier ages.

Another area where both executives said was an obvious place to gain quality drivers, while also helping the nation, was the military.

“How ridiculous is it not to use our soldiers coming home to haul our freight?” Burch asked rhetorically.

Easing the transition from a military CDL to a civilian CDL was among the suggestions made by trucking executives in the American Trucking Research Institute’s 2012 “Critical Issues” survey, released here during MCE.

In the survey, the driver shortage placed fourth on the list of top industry concerns, with 12.8% of respondents selecting it as the most serious issue.

ATRI said the top proposed solution to the problem is to “examine the competitiveness of truck driver pay and benefits as compared to other industries.”

The second most popular solution, ATRI said, was attracting more veterans to the industry. The survey cited Virginia as one state that recently started a program with the military to help veterans of the National Guard obtain a CDL.

As of the end of August, 26 states had waived the driving portion of the CDL test for returning veterans and reservists who have driven heavy vehicles during their service. An additional 12 states and the District of Columbia are crafting a similar waiver system, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (10-1, p. 44).

An overly litigious society is also playing a role in keeping potential drivers away, said Leathers.

During the panel discussion, he shared stories he hears from his company’s top drivers, who are invited for a monthly breakfast to discuss issues with Werner executives.

“Our million-mile safe drivers tell me they feel a stressful burden,” he said. “One wrong turn could mean a $20-$30 million lawsuit and the loss of life. It causes them great duress.”

Another concern, Leathers said, is a push in recent years to cut funding on the federal and state levels for highway rest areas, which has resulted in too many closures.

“This is making it tough to find a safe, easy way to take a break. We need to fight for funding necessary to make it safe on the road” for truck drivers, he said.

Leathers estimated CSA had removed between 2% and 4% of the driver workforce.

Panelist Kenny Vieth, president and senior analyst of ACT Research, offered an optimistic view about the role CSA might play in helping driver retention in coming years.

The thinning of the driver pool resulting from the safety program will constrain new capacity, Vieth said. The result will be a boost to fleets’ bottom lines, making it easier to provide pay increases and incentives that may be necessary to keep top drivers, he said.

The panel was moderated by Howard Abramson, publisher and editorial director of Transport Topics Publishing Group. It was sponsored by Freightliner Trucks.