few years. But drayage is still needed at both ends of a long-distance rail or intermodal movement.
Paying more. This was one of the late Don Schneider’s
focal points, and many carriers are nudging rates up, penny
by penny, nickel by nickel, in order to raise wages.
Arranging for more, and more regular, off-the-road time.
Some companies have been more aggressive in pursuing
this than others, and there are inevitable costs involved.
Developing conscious programs to treat drivers with
respect, openness, and trust.
Partnering with driving schools to establish relationships
with prospective drivers before they finish, and to be a preferred destination for the schools to steer graduates. A few
companies are trying this. A very few work-force development agencies in logistics hot spots are integrating with
driving schools to begin to address the problem on a
regional basis.
Creating win-win-win solutions by hiring military veterans with appropriate driving experience, and recognizing
their military experience as part of their total experience
rather than taking them on as rookies. There is interest in
doing this in a few locales, but it will take collaboration and
alignment among a number of agencies, including carriers,
veterans’ affairs bureaus, and insurers, at a minimum.
Permitting more extensive driving duties at younger ages
(say, 19 versus 21) to capture more people at the beginning
of their careers rather than trying to “convert” them later on.
This again requires collaboration with carriers and insurers,
as well as careful monitoring of individual progress.
There is surely more going on in the real world, but these
illustrate what’s happening.
AND WHAT’S WRONG WITH THAT?
Nothing, really, except that all those toes in the water aren’t
nearly the same as swimming the English Channel, and
that’s what we’ve got to figure out how to do. We can all
learn from the successes and failures of local and company-specific initiatives. We do need a forum to get the word out,
though.
Too many of the company-focused initiatives are
designed more to steal drivers from the competition than to
enlarge the total driver pool, which is what is needed.
The big things, engaging returning veterans and having
younger drivers, definitely need coordination—and action
rather than endless study—at a national level. It’s a national problem; it will take a national solution.
But in our opinion, solving the driver shortage is too big
to simply peck away at and hope for the best. It demands a
comprehensive strategy and the committed engagement of
industry and governmental players. And it shouldn’t be
delayed for years while environmental impact studies are
conducted in Washington.
We don’t have a Harry Potter answer; we left the magic
wand back at the office. But we do know that our profession
and our economic success require all hands on deck to work
on a comprehensive and sustainable solution. We can’t
count on another recession to take the pressure off.
AN IRONIC AFTERTHOUGHT
We do have a sneaking suspicion that the ultimate solution
to the driver shortage could involve immigration, possibly
on a couple of levels.
Consider the positive impact in Europe of, for example,
truck drivers from the high-unemployment CEE (Central
and Eastern Europe) nations relieving human capacity
pressures in fully loaded warehousing and transportation
sectors in “Old” Europe. Could we use a few thousand
Poles, Czechs, Ukrainians, or Slovaks here in trucking?
Then, contemplate the labor force just beyond our
Southern border. Would it not be interesting if we suddenly had Mexicans arriving with jobs in hand and not needing
the services of coyotes to get across the border? The IBT
(International Brotherhood of Teamsters), among others,
was not keen, post-NAFTA, about Mexican trucks on U.S.
roads. Might they feel differently about Mexican drivers in
U.S. trucks?
For those who might decry bringing in immigrants to
perform relatively prosaic tasks, here’s reality. The currently unemployed are possibly not capable of, not qualified for,
or not interested in driving trucks—or else they would
already be on the road somewhere.
Might some be retrained? Possibly, but at what cost (and
to whom), at what career stage, and in what numbers?
Enough to make a dent in the shortage? Highly unlikely.
And we suspect that even Miss Daisy might come—in
time—to approve of the strangers in her midst. ;
Art van Bodegraven, practice leader at S4 Consulting, may be reached at (614)
336-0346 or avan@columbus.rr.com. You can read his blog at http://blogs.dcve-locity.com/the_art_of_art/. Kenneth B. Ackerman, president of The Ackerman
Company, can be reached at (614) 488-3165 or ken@warehousing-forum.com.
