Tag Archives: trucking

Tensions rise in UK haulage as surcharges see drivers playing ‘musical chairs’

Posted on September 12, 2021 by | 2 comments

The UK, with Brexit, has been one of the hardest hit nations with driver shortages. Here is some talk on the situation.

Apparently driver shortage surcharges are being added by some carriers, claiming all the money goes to drivers. Who believes that? Some think other carriers are also doing it but not calling it specifically for drivers. Any carrier may or may not be keeping the surcharge themselves, as there is no documentation of where it is going.

By Alexander Whiteman 26/08/2021

Tensions rise in UK haulage as surcharges see drivers playing ‘musical chairs’ – The Loadstar

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Posted in Labor Economics, Logistics, Trucking

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‘Firms undervaluing their drivers caused this shortage crisis across Europe’

Posted on September 8, 2021 by | 2 comments

Europe has much the same problem as the US when it comes to a driver shortage for logistics.

And the problem made it into consciousness for a similar reason– a new regulation that required drivers to take 45 hours of rest outside their truck, and other work rules. The rules were made for safety reasons, and they make a lot of sense.

But the effect was to prevent drivers from using extra hours to earn money from firms that pay too little. ‘Make it up on volume’ is possible only if you have enough hours to do it.

So drivers increasingly are simply walking away from driving jobs, or quitting and looking for jobs from those few companies that pay more fairly.

The speakers in the article make it plain that trucking firms themselves brought this shortage on, by not paying drivers fairly and not providing fair working conditions.

It’s much the same story in the US.

By Alex Whiteman 08/09/2021

‘Firms undervaluing their drivers caused this shortage crisis across Europe’ – The Loadstar

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Posted in entrepreneurship, Labor Economics, Logistics, Supply Chains, Trucking

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CH Robinson introduces drayage congestion surcharge for major US ports

Posted on September 4, 2021 by | 2 comments

This article clearly outlines some of the reasons drayage truckers don’t want the job any more. Fixing it will require major cooperation along several elements of the container supply chain.

We can enumerate them:

  • Drayage trucking companies that pick up containers weit a chassis and drive them to the next point on the journey.
  • Drayage truck drivers, who are often owner-operators, paid by theload and not hourly, who can’t afford to wait for chassis or container pickup.
  • Port terminal yards, which may have restrictions on hours, and increasingly operate with reservation systems that fix the time you can pick up.
  • Chassis pools. To move a container you must have a chassis, and chassis are currently in short supply. At many ports they are owned by leasing companies and stored in pools, where the driver must go to pick the chassis up and drop it later.
  • Forwarders and Shippers. Sometimes contracts for drayage are altered without notice and drivers must spend extra time traveling, or waiting for facilities to open. Sometimes the chassis must be dropped elsewhere, forcing the driver to go extra distance and spend unpaid time accommodating the change.
  • Rail lines. Many containers are delivered by drayage firms to transfer points where they are loaded on rail cars for a long distance trip. Currently rail lines have a shortage of the rail cars required to carry containers. Rail lines are also suffering from serious delays at key transfer points, such as Chicago. Perhaps there has been chronic underinvestment in equipment for container handling. It’s not as profitable as hauling coal or grains or other bulk commodities.
  • Warehouses. Often containers must be delivered or picked up within a specific time window. these windows are not flexible enough when there is a great deal of variation in pickup and travel times.

CH Robinson introduces drayage congestion surcharge for major US ports Published Sept. 2, 2021 Max Garland Reporter

CH Robinson introduces drayage congestion surcharge for major US ports | Supply Chain Dive

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Posted in Logistics, Ports, Supply Chains

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