newsworthy
The persistent problem of churn among commercial truck
drivers has spread to the smaller fry.
Driver turnover in 2014 among smaller truckload carriers—those with $30 million or less in annual revenue—
spiked to 90 percent, an 11-point leap from 2013 levels,
according to data released last month by the American
Trucking Associations (ATA). The turnover rate among
large carriers hit 95 percent in 2014, ATA said. The 5-point
gap between large and small carriers is the narrowest since
2000, the trucking trade group said.
In the fourth quarter, the driver churn rate among large
truckload carriers hit 96 percent, while the rate for smaller
carriers hit 95 percent, ATA said.
The ATA’s chief economist, Bob Costello, said the
narrowing turnover gap between large and small carriers
is likely due to pay raises and bonuses offered by bigger
carriers that are luring drivers away from smaller fleets.
For example, C.R. England Inc., one of the largest haulers
of refrigerated commodities, announced in late March an
average pay increase of 26 percent for many company team
drivers in its national and Western regional divisions. That
was Salt Lake City-based England’s third driver compensa-
tion hike just in 2015. Similarly, Phoenix, Ariz.-based Swift
Transportation, the largest truckload carrier by sales, said it
would increase driver pay effective next month. Swift was
unavailable to comment, but industry sources said the mag-
nitude of the hike would be comparable to an increase that
took effect in 2014’s second half. That hike was the largest
in Swift’s 52-year history.
Costello said the driver shortage—estimated by the group
at between 35,000 and 40,000 drivers—remains “very
high,” and is becoming “more pervasive,” at least in the
truckload sector.
By contrast, turnover in the less-than-truckload (LTL)
sector, which represents a fraction of the revenue generated
by the truckload business, stood at 11 percent, unchanged
from the year before, ATA said. LTL drivers are generally
better paid and have a more favorable work-life balance
because they make relatively short trips and as a result, are
able to get home more frequently. Improvements in LTL
tonnage, yields, and profits may also be keeping more drivers in their current seats.
Driver churn among smaller fleets spiked during 2014, ATA says
alliances
Toyota Material Handling, U.S.A., Inc., the North
American division of the lift truck manufacturer, and
I.D. Systems Inc., a provider of wireless solutions, have
formed a strategic partnership to develop a new wire-
less industrial vehicle management system. … Northern
Safety and Industrial, a national distributor of safe-
ty and industrial supplies, has deployed Manhattan
Associates Inc.’s SCALE platform, which has helped it
achieve 99.5-percent error-free shipping. In addition,
the French toy retailer Picwic has boosted product avail-
ability across its store network and improved operating
margins by using Manhattan’s supply chain commerce
solutions. … Jaguar Land Rover has fully automated its
global priority warranty parts returns service in part-
nership with the third-party logistics service provider
Seko Logistics. … C.H. Robinson and the MIT Center
for Transportation & Logistics have collaborated on
a white paper, “A New Model for Estimating Carbon
Emissions From LTL Shipments,” which argues that the
current methods of calculating carbon emissions can
be highly inaccurate and that determining emissions
for less-than-truckload shipments is more challenging
than it is for other types of transportation. … British
Telecommunications has selected the HighJump ware-
house management system to boost operational effi-
ciency. … Wood Creek Capital Management LLC has
purchased an ownership interest in Tiger Cool Express
to support the rapid expansion of its refrigerated con-
tainer fleet. … IronPlanet, an online marketplace for
buying and selling used heavy equipment and trucks,
and Associated Auction Services LLC, an alliance of
Caterpillar and several of its independent Cat dealers,
have completed a merger of the two companies. … OHL,
a global third-party logistics service provider, renewed
its license of Amber Road’s International Transportation
Management solution. … K.A. Rasmussen, a supplier
of precious metals within Scandinavia, has entered into
an agreement with supply chain solutions provider
International Business Systems to consolidate coun-
try-specific solutions into one integrated companywide
operating platform. … Wynright Corp. will be providing
the global nonprofit Awana Clubs International with six
custom-designed steel packing tables and a conveyor
system. … Vigon International, a supplier of flavor and
fragrance ingredients, has chosen abas-USA’s abas ERP
solution as its enterprise resource planning software. …
Plug Power Inc. has signed a long-term hydrogen distri-
bution agreement with Praxair Inc.
