Quote of the Day

Tough times call for tough quotes, including these timeless classics:

“Tough times never last, but tough people do.”
-- Robert H. Schuller, American televangelist, pastor and author

“The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work.”
-- Harry Golden, American journalist and newspaper publisher

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For truckers, let the good times roll

Movie mogul Sam Goldwyn famously once said, "Don't make predictions, especially about the future." Nevertheless, we're going to test fate and time travel ahead nearly a year. Imagine, if you will, that it's July 1, 2011 as we write these words looking "back to the future."

After several years of wage reductions, benefit cost-increases and an increasingly frustrating job market, the driver has regained a strong negotiating position. Wages have reversed their downward spiral, and trucking companies are revving up their recruitment ad budgets and retention efforts. Not more than a year ago, this would've been unthinkable. Not anymore.

CSA 2010: 'accountability' tops list of concerns

A handful of trucking industry leaders -- testifying at a June 23 hearing on the Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010 held by the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit -- agreed that the initiative has merit but expressed concerns over the potential negative impact of CSA 2010 on certain constituents, notably carriers and drivers.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) recently completed a two-and-a-half-year, nine-state field test of the program aimed at raising safety standards through increased scrutiny of drivers and by holding carriers more accountable for their unsafe drivers.

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Senate bill targets "'bad" freight brokers

Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) recently introduced the “Motor Carrier Protection Act of 2010”  (Senate bill 3483) in response to concerns about “unscrupulous brokering practices that continually take advantage of small business truckers.” The bill is designed to beef up regulatory oversight of brokers and freight forwarders in the trucking industry.

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Sleep disorders drive up industry's healthcare costs

Approximately 28 percent of the 3.5 million truck drivers in the U.S. suffer from sleep apnea, according to Fusion Sleep, a leading provider of transportation sleep medicine services.

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My Point: Are you ready for the 'perfect storm'?

Marvin Shefsky
- Publisher

The headline said it all: “Wanted: 400,000 truck drivers.”

In a recent article on CNNMoney.com, senior writer Chris Isidore reported that the “U.S. trucking industry will need to hire about 200,000 drivers by the end of this year and will need to add another 200,000 by the end of 2011, according to the state of logistics report from the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals.”

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Drivers Sound Off

Many over-the-road drivers always seem to be looking for greener pastures just around the next corner. They leave one company for another for all kinds of reasons, big and small, but miles and money almost always play a role. Since dispatchers serve as drivers' primary contact with the carrier - and since dispatchers appear to hold the keys to the miles and the money all drivers are after - is there any more important relationship in terms of driver retention than that between a driver and his or her dispatcher?

With that in mind, Driver HEALTH and Over the Road magazines asked drivers the following question:

What makes a good dispatcher?

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National Truck Driver Appreciation Week

When it comes to driver retention, often it’s the little things that count. For example, will your company celebrate National Truck Driver Appreciation Week 2010 on Sept. 19-25? Created by the American Trucking Associations, NTDAW is “the perfect time to show your drivers how much you appreciate their hard work, commitment and safe driving,” according to the ATA.

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