P&PRC 2014: Trucking rates up, driver availability down

Trucking rates in the United States are increasing, and the recycling industry has been challenged by the lack of quality truck drivers available, according to speakers in the session “Keeping a Lid on Transportation Costs” during the 2014 Paper & Plastics Recycling Conference, which is being held in Chicago Oct. 8-10.

Tim Voulopos of Cardinal Logistics, Concord, North Carolina, presented both of these questions to attendees: 
 

He added, “We’re losing drivers and you’re probably seeing it in your supply chain. There’s no end in sight.”

An estimated 30,000 truck driver positions are currently unfilled, Voulopos said.

He pointed to a few reasons trucking rates have increased, with four of the six bullet points on his PowerPoint slide presentation wittingly identifying “drivers” and the other two reasons as “equipment costs” and “mechanics/technicians”.

“The stereotypical ‘old school’ driver does not and cannot exist in today’s industry,” Voulopos said.

He outlined several changes to the role of truck drivers’ responsibilities, which have helped to shrink the availability of drivers. The increased use of technology required of drivers inside trucks—from engine and fuel monitoring to keeping track of hard stops and collision avoidance technology—has translated to more work and stress for drivers for less pay, he said. The gap between U.S. average wages and the average wage for a truck driver has been increasing, Voulopos noted.

“If you want to be a driver, you have to subject yourself to all of this stuff,” he explained.

On top of these new priorities, drivers also are aging rapidly. Nearly 75 percent of all driver turnovers are the result of retirement and regulatory impact, Voulopos said.

Allen Clifford of Mediterranean Shipping Co. (USA) Inc., New York, who kicked off the session Thursday afternoon, said the average age of truck drivers today is 55. “There are no truckers left,” Clifford said frankly.

Mario Bruendel, general manager of the Newport Beach, California-based freight forwarder FMS Logistics, also a speaker on the transportation panel, said the older average age for drivers is a challenge for the industry.

Additionally, the average truck-turn time has decreased 85 percent, driving up costs of trucking, he said.

Bruendel explained how companies that at one time were turning over four trucks in a day are now turning over just one truck per day.

He suggested building long-term relationships with local truckers and importers as well as paying workable rates to drivers, a concept also shared by Voulopos.

“If you do run a fleet … know your competition for drivers in the area regarding pay, benefits and bonuses,” Voulopos suggested.

He added, “The driver shortage is real and it’s not going away anytime soon.”