Do you hear that alarm? It’s loud, it’s piercing, it’s our industry’s wake-up call. It’s telling us that it’s time to change our viewpoint on a critical asset — the driver. These individuals play an important role in keeping freight moving and deserve more respect, for instance being treated like a “customer” at intermodal terminals and customer locations. Our industry needs to work to maximize their utilization as they become an even more valuable supply chain component after ELD regulations kick in and driver compliance is fully enforced. Delays at ramps, ports, and customer destinations will need to be reduced and ultimately eliminated.
Many customers’ supply chains will be impacted once ELDs are enforced. They’ll have to look at their network and possibly realign lanes that are over 250 miles one way if drivers are delayed at terminals or in traffic. The industry will need to become accustomed to one-hour free-time provisions with higher detention rates and drayage costs as offsets to the inefficiency and opportunity cost of drivers not making it to the ultimate destination.
We as an industry need to embrace the hard work and importance of these devoted individuals who are trying to earn an honest living for themselves and their families. Many are first-generation Americans trying to live the American dream.
We must collaborate with industry partners and customers to develop a positive environment with more rewards — competitive pay and benefits, safety, and good work conditions. This needs to be an ongoing commitment and campaign by industry participants. For today and the future, we need to reinvent our industry’s approach to make sure we retain and attract drivers. It must be seen as a rewarding and respectable occupation in our industry.