July 18, 2018  The trucking industry is responding to the driver squeeze in a myriad of ways, from increasing pay per mile to offering competitive sign-on bonuses, as FreightWaves has reported. While carriers continue to try make the job appealing to drivers, community colleges across the nation are also doing their part to fight against the shortage.

By creating fast-track courses, students can earn their commercial driver’s license (CDL) in a matter of weeks, with some programs even advertising four-week classes online--even if they have no prior experience behind the wheel of a truck. These programs rely heavily on intense training and cutting-edge technology to make the most out of limited time in the classroom and on the road.

The U.S. Department of Transportation anticipates a 6% increase in the employment of heavy and tractor trailing drivers in the next 8 years, projecting a growth of 108,400 positions between 2016 and 2026. As younger generations enter the workforce, there’s a distinct attempt to appeal to them, as FreightWaves’ Chad Prevost previously discussed. It’s no surprise that community colleges are jumping at the chance to train new drivers to fill industry-wide gaps.

Chattanooga State Community College offers a 7-week commercial truck driving program and advertises 100% job placement for its graduates. Some colleges have even partnered with carriers to ease the transition from trainee to truck driver. Northwest State Community College in Archbold, Ohio and Keller Logistics Group have teamed up to “provide the students of the professional truck driver school not only a cost effective way to enter the profession, but will also provide them the best education locally,” according to Keller’s CEO Bryan Keller. The two hope to “invest in the people that make up the communities in which Keller is headquartered and NSCC serves” and “anticipate hiring many of the graduates of this program.”

One such program is also offered by Central New Mexico Community College. “Truck drivers are in high demand in our state and across the country, and this accelerated program provides quick access to high-quality jobs,” CNM Ingenuity Executive Director Kyle Lee said. “Through ABQ CDL, we’re responding to our economy’s workforce needs while providing people with a new pathway to good jobs.”

FreightWaves, in an interview with Brad Moore, Director of Communications and Media Relations for Central New Mexico Community College noted that CNM is at “the intersection of I-25 and I-40 in the heart of Albuquerque, two highly traveled trucking routes,” making it an ideal spot for training the next generation of drivers. According to Moore, CNM has long offered a “college-credit truck driving certificate program that takes 12 to 15 weeks to complete, as well as contract training for local trucking companies that wanted one-on-one, accelerated training opportunities for their prospective drivers.”

By 2015, CNM was receiving more demand for “accelerated training that wouldn’t require a trucking company or individual to provide the vehicle,” and by fall 2016, “CNM Ingenuity, an arm of CNM that offers accelerated training programs in high-demand fields, received approval to use one of the Class A vehicles from the college’s traditional semester-long program for one-on-one trainings. The response to this type of training was very positive and led to significantly higher demand for accelerated training opportunities, with little to no marketing. That led to the planning of the new accelerated program,” Moore explained.

As for appealing to younger drivers, Moore estimates that 80% of inquiries about the new program have been from millennials, and that their first group of students has already started hitting the books. “The first cohort of the accelerated program started on July 9 with five participants. A new cohort of six to nine students will now start every four weeks. The August cohort is nearly full. In the fall, we plan to begin running two cohorts a day to meet demand,” Moore stated.

“Since announcing the launch of this program, we have received a tremendous response from trucking companies and people in our community who want to become truck drivers and earn a good living,” said Kyle Lee, chief executive officer of CNM Ingenuity. “As a community college, this is exactly what we strive to do – educate and train community members for quality jobs that serve the needs of our regional economy.”

Land O'Lakes is a member-owned cooperative with revenues of $15 billion. The company is best known for dairy products, particularly butter, but the company also has divisions devoted to animal nutrition and seeds/crop protection. When it comes to securing carriage, it is easier if you have predictable demand, use standard trucks, and have long lead times. That does not fit any of their businesses.

The animal feed business does not have seasonal peaks, but 40 percent of deliveries are same day or next day. The dairy business has "huge peaks" according to Mr. Dewberry. Forty percent of butter is sold in November and December and needs to be transported in refrigerated trucks. "Getting refrigerated trucks during the busy season is tough." Finally, the Ag service business is "peaky." "When the weather gets warm, farmers want to plant. It is hard to predict these peaks. And when it rains, farmers are apt to ask for fungicides, and they want those fungicides delivered the same day. 80 percent of deliveries from this business are same or next day.

The trucker shortage is being driven by: unemployment rates being down, which has created a positive consumer outlook and people buying more goods. It is definitely driven by demographics, "in the past ten percent of drivers were near retirement at any point in time, today it is 25 percent" said Mr. Dewberry. The ELD mandate has had an impact, but perhaps not as big as many argue. But a big reason for the shortage is that "we've forced our carriers to drive their prices down. Trucking companies don't have many levers. There is fuel, carriers can not control that. And there are driver wages. For many years, driver wages were not keeping up with wage growth in other sectors.

So, there is a driver shortage. Companies are having a harder time maintaining existing service levels, much less moving to more demanding business to consumer ecommerce type expectations for quick deliveries. "5:00 to 9:00 bleeds over to 9:00 to 5.00" quipped Mr. Dewberry. By that he means that people go home at the end of the day, order on line, are promised quick deliveries, have choices on when and how goods are shipped, and have visibility to those shipments. Those expectations then carry over to the business environment.

So that is the problem, what is the solution? Land O'Lakes is doing several things to deal with a tough freight environment. First of all, the company believes a focus on costs has been overblown. "We don't generally talk about price (with carriers), we talk about how to solve a problem."

With the ag supply business, they are making many shipments to rural areas served by small carriers that don not have a lot of technology. Land O'Lakes has implemented a real-time transportation visibility solution from FourKites. Drivers can download an app, accept a load, and then have the shipment tracked via their smartphone. "We track every Purina shipment." They are running pilots with FourKites to see whether predictive analytics surrounding weather - the data comes from the Weather Channel owned by IBM - and traffic can be used to better predict arrival times. Further, visibility can be used to pay drivers for all the work they do. If they are struck in traffic, and the visibility solution shows that to be true, they can be paid for their time. If they are made to wait too long picking goods up at a warehouse, the visibility solution proves that, and they are paid for that as well.

Land O'Lakes is also running pilots with Uber Freight and Convoy. "Traditional brokerage is too slow." These technologically sophisticated AI-based brokers might be a partial solution. But the experiment is young. "We don't know if it will work."

The company is also looking to partner with companies with private fleets. "Carriers fleets are at a 90 percent utilization level. Private fleets are only 50 to 60 percent utilized. We've found a few we can work with." Eventually, finding loads while helping their partners eliminate empty backhauls will be made easier with technology.

Land O'Lakes wants to also test the feasibility of autonomous trucks. Their partner here is Uber Advanced Technologies. Self-driving trucks are not legal yet, but some states are allowing pilots to be run. Land O'Lakes would like to work with the Department of Transportation in Minnesota and Uber to begin testing certain lanes. "This might not happen for years," Mr. Dewberry admits, "but we have to start somewhere."

Finally, the company is working with industry groups like the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the Food Marketing Institute around participating in projects that can help alleviate this problem. For example, what if food manufacturers did not have to deliver to retailers on week days 9 to 5 but could smooth demand by delivering on weekends? A study could show how much capacity that might free up.

In the current environment, partnering, new technologies, and experimentation makes sense. Land O'Lakes is clearly doing something right. They average 1,000 shipments per week. In the last year, only three shipments were left on the dock because of an inability to find a carrier willing to take the load.

June 17, 2018  With all the environmental concerns of rearing livestock for food and the growing activism around the morality of consuming meat, we would have almost thought that the urge of eating meat would have declined in the U.S. - which ironically, could not be further away from the truth. Meat consumption this year is expected to hit a record, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture expecting an average American to eat 222.2 pounds of red meat and poultry in 2018.

As consumption keeps pushing up the ceiling, the technology of growing meat in petri-dishes seems to have gained significant interest. Investors pour in millions into startups working on artificially growing meat, buoyed with the hope of creating a parallel meat economy where food is produced in laboratories rather than farms.

Regardless of the storm it is kicking up, lab-grown meat is not commercially available yet, but startups like Just is confident of putting it out in the market by the end of this year. The problem though is the philosophical double take on what till date has never been a problem - the definition of meat.

The farm industry that rears animals the traditional way is quite expectedly against lab-grown meat, as it believes that artificially cultured meat cannot be categorized under standardized meat. The tension is palpable in the livestock rearing circle, as the rise of lab-grown meat would quite possibly eat into their market share.

In an FDA public meeting last week, the group supporting the cause of farm meat insisted on differentiating it from its lab-grown counterpart, by comparing it to soy-milk produce and the fact that it isn’t equated to regular dairy milk. The caveat in this argument though is that lab-grown meat is considered to look and taste exactly like that of the farm-reared meat, with startups in the space insisting that the nutritional value of the lab-grown meat also cuts parallels with the traditional one.

However, to be fair to the consumers, regulations must be set in place for companies to explicitly mention the meat source on the label - laboratory or otherwise - and for restaurants to suggest the same on its menu.

Though there is little to worry on the logistics side of the equation with regard to lab-grown meat, there would come a time when the price of cultured meat would be less than that of farm grown meat. And in such a situation, monitoring the supply chain would become critical - especially with meat that is sourced internationally, as businesses could look towards replacing conventional meat sources with laboratories and choose not to put it on the label.

Blockchain in food supply chains could be a way through which transparency and visibility are brought into the industry. Blockchain has the potential to account for every party in the meat supply chain and thus can act as an effective deterrent to unacceptable practices. Walmart for instance, has been trying its hand in different blockchain projects which could help it accurately trace products as they cross through different stakeholders in the supply chain before hitting its shelves.

FreightWaves recently covered the impact of cultured meat on the transportation industry, which stands to lose out on a bulk of its freight once this becomes a reality. The Transportation Research Board claims that agricultural products account for 31% of the total ton-miles of freight moved. While livestock and poultry do not account for all of the farm products that are hauled on the American highways, it still is a sizeable portion as 95% of the livestock being transported are via trucks.  

One of the advantages with lab-grown meat is that it can be utilized completely, unlike the meat derived from livestock, where more than half the mass of the slaughtered animal goes to landfill. Then again, the technological advancement in the cultured meat space only allows for the growth of a mass of flesh that is devoid of shape and bone, thus drastically reducing the cuisine variants that could use it as a replacement for farm-grown meat. For instance, grilled ribs made out of lab-grown meat is impossible at the moment, and it could possibly take years for science to figure out a way to grow one.

But even then, industries churning out meat en masse in the future is a thought that the transportation industry needs to contend with. If industries could produce readily consumable meat, it would gradually lead to them setting up centers close to cities that consume it in large quantities - leading to a drastic reduction in the miles hauled. Also since lab-grown meat would have next-to-nothing wastage, the load being hauled would also be considerably lesser in the future. This could mean that over the next decade, the freight industry could have a face-off against two adversaries - the rise of autonomous vehicles, and the scope of lab-grown meat.

May 28, 2018  America has a massive shortage of truck drivers. Joyce Brenny, head of Brenny Transportation in Minnesota, increased driver pay 15 percent this year to try to attract more drivers. Many of her drivers now earn $80,000, she says, yet she still can't find enough people for the job.

About 51,000 more drivers are needed to meet the demand from companies such as Amazon and Walmart that are shipping more goods across the country, according to the American Trucking Associations. The driver shortage is already leading to delayed deliveries and higher prices for goods that Americans buy. The ATA predicts that it's likely to get worse in the coming years.

Many trucking companies are so desperate for drivers that they are offering signing bonuses and pay raises. So why don't more Americans want this job? We asked truck drivers who have been doing the job anywhere from four months to 40 years for their views.

Most said the answer is simple: The lifestyle is rough. You barely see your family, you rarely shower, and you get little respect from car drivers, police or major retailers. Michael Dow said he has been divorced twice because of trucking. Donna Penland said she gained 60 pounds her first year from sitting all day and a lack of healthful food on the road.

A few drivers told The Washington Post that they earn $100,000, but many said their annual pay is less than $50,000 (government statistics say median pay for the industry is $42,000). As for the bonuses, driver Daniel Gollnick said they are a “complete joke” because of all the strings attached.

Despite the hardships, half said they would recommend the job to friends and family, chiefly because, as Gollnick said, “it's the easiest money you can get without a college degree.” Here are the drivers' perspectives on America's trucking crisis.

Age: 48

Yearly income: $45,000

Why don't people want this job? “The pay is so far behind the curve. I make less money now than I did 20 years ago if you adjust for inflation and cost of living. I figured it out once, and I was making $14 or $15 an hour driving for the big carriers. People flipping hamburgers are demanding $15 an hour.”

Have you gotten a raise? “I have, because I went out and started my own company this year. The rates have never been this good in over 20 years. I hope the driver shortage continues. Skilled drivers like me aren't cheap right now. I'm anticipating I'll make $85,000 to $120,000 this year.”

Would you recommend this job? “I have a 21-year-old son in the military who is about ready to come out. In all honesty, I do not wish him to get into this industry because it's a hard life. I don't recommend it to anyone who has a family. My kids are in their 20s now. I missed most of their lives growing up. They tell me they wish I would have been home more. I have been divorced two times because of truck driving. For a real perspective, talk to a trucker's wife.”

Would you recommend this job? “I do. I tell friends who are working minimum-wage or factory jobs to go get their CDL [Commercial Driver's License, which takes a few weeks]. It's the easiest money you can get without a college degree, but it's a hard industry. You're going to be alone a lot.”

Is the industry in a crisis? “There are not enough truckers. I've been running around doing extra runs, because we are shorthanded. But I've noticed I'm not truly picking up more physical freight. I'm just picking up at more places.”

Age: 50

Yearly income: "$50,000 is where you’re going to be when you work for a big company. If you want to make more money than that, you have to find an independent person with two or three trucks that really does appreciate you as a driver and they share profits with you.”

Have you received a raise? “I work for Marten Transport now. They don't offer signing bonuses, but I work on a Coca-Cola dedicated route, and Coke is putting up bonuses because they need drivers. So I got a $3,500 signing bonus. But they don't just give you $3,500. I received $500 after 30 days and another $1,000 after 60 days. They spread it out.”

Would you recommend this job? “No. Not to most of my friends. It takes a special kind of person, because you basically give up your life for the job. You are dedicated to that truck. Most people are 'over the road' drivers, because that is where you make the most money. It means you go coast to coast and border to border. You are supposed to get a day off after every seven days of driving, but companies prefer that you stay out 60 days and then take just a few days off. I gained 60 pounds because it's a sedentary life. You just drive, sleep, drive, sleep. Companies don't treat you like a human. You are a just a machine that makes money for them.”

Is this a good job for women? “I think it is a good profession for women, but there are a lot of doors to break down. The guys treat you like you're stupid and don't know anything. And companies are almost always asking you to do stuff that's illegal — to work extra hours or to dump trash illegally.”

Age: 45

Would you recommend this job? “Never. I wouldn't let my kids even think about doing this. This is a really, really hard job. On top of that, people don't respect truck drivers. We are treated as the bad guys on the road by other drivers and the police. The majority of police treat drivers like criminals. We get pulled over for stupid stuff. One of my drivers got a violation because he didn't have enough windshield fluid. That violation stays on the driver's record and my company's record for three years.”