Trucking labor

Coverage on congestion at the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex continued to interest JOC.com readers this past week, as what could be the worst gridlock to hit the largest port complex in the Americas continues.

Congestion-caused delays at the largest U.S. port complex are pushing up outbound spot market truck rates from the Los Angeles-Long Beach market to inland distribution points.

The Teamsters union is intensifying efforts to organize truck drivers and other workers at FedEx Freight and Con-way Freight, the two largest U.S. less-than-truckload trucking companies.

The nation's second-largest truckload carrier is the latest trucking company to boost driver pay significantly, as driver supply tightens in trucking's peak season.

Driver turnover at large truckload fleets soared in the second quarter to its highest point since the third quarter of 2012, putting more pressure on trucking companies struggling to hire and keep truck drivers and add truck capacity as the U.S. economy expanded at a faster pace.

A Kansas court decision could influence 20 class action lawsuits claiming FedEx Ground drivers in the last decade were employees, not independent contractors.

Trucking employment bounced back after the dog days of August, climbing 2.3 percent year-over-year in September as the U.S. labor market showed surprising strength.

Want to be a truck driver? Con-way Truckload is willing to help pay your way. The company is doubling the amount of tuition support it offers new drivers enrolled in training programs.

Businesses struggling to hire and keep truck drivers need to look beyond incremental increases in per mile pay toward using technology more effectively to build driver-centric businesses.

Con-way Freight said it will boost truck driver pay by $60 million in 2015, restructuring pay rates for more than 14,000 line-haul and pickup-and-delivery drivers nationwide.

A big hike in truck driver pay seems to be paying off handsomely for Swift Transportation. The number of Swift trucks lacking drivers has dropped about 20 percent from the end of the second quarter, and line-haul truck utilization has improved more than 3 percent.

The Teamsters union and safety advocates from the Highway and Auto Safety, Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways have filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in attempt to force the agencies to issue a rule outlining training standards for entry-level truck drivers.

The case and the severity of the sentence underscores international concern about truck driver fatigue and the enforcement of daily work limits and adequate rest periods.

Hub Group said it expects its costs to rise at least temporarily with the company’s conversion of its 350 California drayage drivers to company employees in order to settle litigation alleging they were misclassified as independent contractors.

The U.S. intermodal sector has experienced significant growing pains, ranging from more concentrated discharge of import cargo at marine terminals to a deterioration in rail service. The inability of motor carriers to attract enough drivers to handle growth in demand also puts pressure on the so-called first and last miles of the intermodal legs.

Trucking’s hiring plans stalled in August, as for-hire motor carriers with payroll numbers tracked by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lost approximately 800 employees.

The so-called truck driver shortage largely has benefited intermodal rail — until now. Trucking’s increasing difficulty finding drivers to pilot big rigs has helped shift freight to intermodal containers, but it could also threaten future intermodal growth.

Members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union ratified a new collective bargaining agreement with grain handlers in the Pacific Northwest, ending a two-year battle between the two parties.

Boyd Bros. Transportation and Interstate Distributor are the latest U.S. trucking companies to boost truck driver pay as motor carriers scramble to find drivers to move freight.

Truckload operators are increasingly willing to pay more to secure the truck drivers needed to deliver trucking capacity to shipper customers.

A survey of 2,000 truck drivers by National Retail Systems showed that 79 percent listed pay as their top reason for deciding where to work.

The Ningbo container truck driver strike is escalating with trucks clogging the terminal gates and forwarders warning customers to expect missed sailings and a shortage of boxes as carriers divert some calls to Shanghai.

After years of talking about the need to increase chronically low pay to attract and keep more truck drivers, trucking companies are beginning to put money on the table.

In a bid to recruit and keep more truck drivers, Con-way Truckload will raise per-mile pay, increase layover pay and offer more incentives to drivers that stay behind the wheel.

Over-the-road shippers worried about peak-season capacity this fall need to focus on the front of the truck, not the back. There will be trailers available ready to receive freight, and enough trucks to pull them. What may be missing is the key ingredient in truck capacity: the driver.

A stronger U.S. industrial economy and surging imports are helping trucking companies hire more workers, despite continued reports of a driver shortage.

Events this past week demonstrate that the Teamsters union remains dead serious about organizing harbor truck drivers, but also highlight the uphill battle the union faces.

A threat by the Teamsters union to launch a strike at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach got off to a slow start today as truck drivers were passing out informational flyers in the harbor, but were not setting up picket lines.

Organizers backed by the Teamsters Union reportedly plan on July 7 to picket terminals in Los Angeles-Long Beach and target the trucks of three drayage companies they have been trying to unionize.

Trucking companies are turning to technology to recruit, train and keep truck drivers, as qualified job candidates become increasingly hard to find.

Five years into the U.S. economic recovery, trucking companies say finding and hiring drivers is harder than ever. This driver shortage is a roadblock to expansion, limiting incremental growth in truck capacity, and a prime reason truck rates are set to increase at a faster pace in 2014.

The number of truck drivers in the U.S. increased 1.9 percent in 2013, the slowest annual growth rate since driver numbers began rising after the recession, data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show.

A picket line established by independent truck drivers briefly shut down a container terminal at the Port of Long Beach today, but the impact was confined to one facility and was unlikely to result in terminal closures elsewhere in the harbor.

Truck driver pay must rise between 15 and 25 percent if the trucking industry is going to keep up with freight demand in coming years, a truckload executive said yesterday.

Joe Lozano bid goodbye to port drayage work in February after seven years of hauling containers to and from New York-New Jersey marine terminals. He hasn’t regretted his decision.

Striking truck drivers late yesterday reached an agreement with Port Metro Vancouver, the federal government of Canada and the provincial government of British Columbia...

The provincial government of British Columbia was making progress today on implementing a back-to-work bill designed to end a crippling truckers’ strike that is now in its fourth week at Port Metro Vancouver.

Truck traffic at Port Metro Vancouver continued to increase over the weekend, but still remained below normal as the maritime community anticipated introduction of back-to-work legislation today...

New software could help trucking companies enforce truck driver detention policies and collect fines from shippers that keep drivers waiting beyond agreed limits.

The Teamsters union said today that a settlement agreement announced by Region 21 of the National Labor Relations Board will open the door to drivers at Pacific 9 Transportation in Southern California to organize a union at the harbor trucking company.