I had breakfast with a
buddy a short while ago and he's a guy that is usually upbeat and
looking at the sunny side of things. So as we were talking about the
state of affairs out here on the road I was a little taken aback when
he said that it just wasn't any fun out here anymore. I've heard
similar statements from many drivers over the past couple of years
and I usually just put it off to a venting of frustrations when a
couple of drivers get together. But as I thought about our
conversation afterward I realized that these types of comments are
coming from drivers that I don't usually associate with a lot of
bitching about nothing. They are coming from seasoned drivers with
lots of experience. My overall impression is that folks are simply
tired out and run down. So naturally I wondered if the driver
shortage that gets so much ink in the trucking media these days is
showing up in the way of added stress and fatigue to drivers. Lots
has been written about attracting new blood to the industry but not
so much about what the effects are on the existing pool of drivers
that are picking up the slack.
Think of our present
drivers as a group of elite athletes. Okay, I know this may be a
stretch but bear with me. Your watching game 7 of a Stanley Cup
final. More than half of the players on both teams are seasoned
veterans well past the halfway point in their careers. But the chips
are down and they all have their game on, playing with an intensity
of guys half their age. You know when the game is done that there is
no way these players could play every game in a long season with that
same level of effort. But when called on they get the job done.
So now back to our
present team of drivers. More than half of us are well past the
halfway point in our careers and many of us are feeling the effects.
Those effects are reflected in the general state of our health. For
the past few years we've been called on to pick up the slack and put
in the extra effort. Most of us have had our game on and risen to
the call. But unlike a group of athletes that 'peak' for a playoff
series we just keep going with no end in sight. Unlike the hockey
players we don't have an off season to recover or someone to
substitute for us for a game or two during the regular season.
We have also been
handicapped in a number of ways. The referees in our industry are
calling a tight game. Despite the greater demands on our time we
face harsher penalties if we break the rules. Up until a few years
ago our game was open ended allowing us the flexibility to stretch
out our duties and rest in between. Now we have to complete many of
our jobs within a tighter window of time or face a penalty. Our
income has not kept up with inflation over the past couple of decades
so the once above average income we enjoyed has shrunk to an average
middle class income at best. No longer does a driver have the luxury
to take time whenever he or she wants it to recharge with family and
friends. Many of us are working paycheck to paycheck, living on the
road, and just going home to visit.
In my opinion there is
not a driver shortage at all. Drivers now receive an average income
for an above average investment of time in an industry where
bureaucracy has run amuck. As a result the freedom of the open road
does not hold the same attraction to potential drivers and is quickly
losing its luster within the existing pool of drivers.
Shrinking incomes and
longer work hours are not unique to the trucking industry. It's a
story repeated across a broad swath of our society. The message we
are getting on the front lines is one of austerity. We are told to
do more with less in order for companies to remain competetive and
create more jobs. At the same time we receive constant messaging to
consume more which fuels economic growth. Earn less but spend more?
Maybe I'm getting the wrong message but I don't think so.
The good news is that
many of us work for smaller family owned businesses that don't
operate by the same rules of austerity as the large public
corporations. But they don't have the deep pockets that their large
competitors do so they can't keep their drivers happy by throwing
money at them. They need to find creative ways to keep and attract
drivers. As drivers we can help them do that and in doing so help
ourselves. I'll come back to this in future columns.
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