inbound
With driver turnover rates at record levels, fleet operators have tried everything
from pay raises to health and wellness programs to keep drivers from defecting.
Now, a flatbed trucking company based in Tulsa, Okla., has found another way
to keep its drivers on board—provide them with premium satellite TV.
Paul Transportation Inc. installed in-cab satellite TV systems throughout its
fleet of 175 tractors in 2017 and has since reported a 60-percent drop in its driver
turnover rate, according to EpicVue, the Salt Lake City-based trucking industry satellite TV company that supplied the gear. Each truck is outfitted with an
exterior dome antenna that provides a live TV feed while the driver waits for his
hours of service to renew or for a shipper to load or unload goods, according to
an EpicVue video.
The satellite TV package has helped the carrier slash its annual driver turnover
rate to 85 percent from 144 percent and cut down on the number of empty seats
it needs to fill at any one time to three from 25, Nick Williams, Paul’s recruiting
manager, said in a release. The carrier’s recruitment efforts have benefited as well.
“In the first two months after we began installing the systems, we had an increase
of 300 driver applications,” Williams said.
The in-cab satellite TV improves drivers’ quality of life by helping pass the time
and making it less frustrating when they have to wait, Williams said. Drivers also
like being able to keep up with their favorite shows while on the road and say the
TV feed makes their truck more home-like, he said.
Mobile TV helps fleet hold onto drivers
Automation and robotics are
often cited as potential solutions
to a chronic labor shortage in
warehouse and transportation
operations. But increased automation in the work force has a
downside as well, according to a
new study.
Researchers from Ball State
University and Villanova
University have found that the rise
of automation is causing workers
to suffer from declining physical
and mental health. The negative
health outcomes may be triggered
by the fear of losing their jobs,
according to the study, “
County-level job automation risk and
health: Evidence from the United
Social Science and Medicine.
In the study, researchers found
that a 10-percent increase in
“automation risk” at the county
level worsens laborers’ general,
physical, and mental health by
2. 38 percent, 0.8 percent, and 0.6
percent, respectively. Workers in
the South were most likely to
show ill effects, the study found.
“While estimates of potential
job losses due to automation
vary for our nation—with one as
high as 47 percent—most people
agree that the risk … is significant and growing,” said co-au-thor Michael Hicks, director of
Ball State’s Center for Business
and Economic Research. “People
who live and work in areas where
automation is taking place are
sickened by the thought of losing
their jobs and having no way of
providing for themselves or their
families.”
Study: Threat of
automation may
make workers sick
A busy loading dock can be the most dangerous area of a distribution center,
with potential for employees, products, or equipment to fall off the dock at an
unprotected door. Not only can such accidents lead to injury or property damage, but their financial impact can be significant, with a single forklift accident
easily leading to more than $100,000 in
related costs, according to the Protective
Guarding Manufacturers Association
(ProGMA), a product group within the
Material Handling Industry (MHI) trade
association.
To help promote dock safety, the group
recently released a two-minute educational
video that offers tips for protecting people
and property. Titled “Prevent Accidents and Injuries Near Loading Docks/
Doors,” the animated short film looks at a variety of protective devices, including bumpers, bollards, mesh door netting, and single and double guardrails.
“The loading dock is the most active area of any facility; if a company isn’t
shipping and receiving product, it isn’t making money,” Ray Niemeyer, the
chairman of ProGMA and director of business development at SpaceGuard
Products, said in a statement. “It is here where personnel either on foot or rid-
ing powered operated equipment can find themselves in dangerous situations
unless proper protective guarding and safety equipment are installed.”
You can watch the video at www.mhi.org/progma/videos or on You Tube.
Video offers tips on dock safety
