bigpicture
Peter Bradley
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Managing Editor
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Mark Solomon
Senior Editor
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Associate Managing Editor
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James Cooke
Editor at Large
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Steve Geary
Editor at Large
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George Weimer
Editor at Large
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Erica E. Mac Donald
Assistant Editor
Sean Maloney
Assistant Editor
Keisha Capitola
Director of Creative Services
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Columnists:
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Don Jacobson
Shelly Safian
Kenneth B. Ackerman
Art Van Bodegraven
Barry Brandman
Drivers wanted
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Publisher
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Group Editorial Director
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Jim Indelicato
Group Publisher
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IN JUNE, THE COUNCIL OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Professionals released its annual State of Logistics Report, and the study’s
conclusions are not likely to raise much in the way of hopes that our long,
bumpy ride along an economic trough will end soon.
Rosalyn Wilson, senior business analyst at Vienna, Va.-based Delcan
Corp. and author of the report, told shippers and reporters gathered in
Washington for the report’s release that the “underlying pieces are not
falling into place to support anything more than weak growth” for the rest
of 2011.
Yet logistics costs, led by transportation, are rising faster than the overall economy. Driven by demand, higher fuel costs, and tight capacity, total
transportation costs in 2010 were up 10. 3 percent to
$768 billion, according to the report, even as the overall inflation rate remained low.
Tight capacity in the truckload sector remains a par-
ticular concern. As Senior Editor Mark Solomon
recently reported, “Available truckload capacity is
dearer than at any time since the middle of the last
decade, experts say. While the reasons for the shortfall
are manifold—a weak economy that forced truckers to
sideline rigs, a shortage of available drivers, rising
operating costs, and a lack of adequate credit for carri-
ers to replace aging equipment or expand their fleets—
the fact is, rig counts are down by as much as 15 to 20
percent from their 2006 peaks.”
The driver issue is particularly worrisome. When
carriers gain confidence that demand for capacity has some legs, capital
investment will eventually follow. But finding drivers—long a source of
concern—is only going to get more difficult. The American Trucking
Associations (ATA) reported in late June that longhaul driver turnover had
hit an annual rate of 75 percent in the first quarter of 2011. That’s the high-
est rate since the second quarter of 2008.
It may seem odd that while unemployment remains high, carriers cannot find enough drivers. But you don’t have to look far to understand why.
Longhaul driving is a grueling job. Regulators, rightfully, have cracked
down on unsafe drivers, and new rules will take more of them off the road.
Looming changes in hours of service regulations will make it tougher to
make a good income.
Shippers can help themselves through fair dealing with their carriers and
just plain humane treatment of drivers at their docks. That won’t solve the
broader issues vexing carriers just now—nothing would provide a cure
faster than a return to robust growth—but it can mean their own freight
will move on time at a reasonable rate.
