Another's eyes are opening up. Excellent observation and question. But it goes much deeper than just getting drivers to do the team gig.
Driver turn-around percentages have always been an issue in the trucking industry. But until the government got involved in the mid-80's with driver recruitment by subsidizing corporations which hired improperly trained drivers...the turn-around ratio had never exceeded 100%.
There is much evidence supporting the understanding our government is destroying the power O/O's wield ever since the '73 shut-down.
- The Motor Carrier De-regulation of 1980: The misunderstanding with this piece of legislation is that O/O's and independents asked for this, when in fact it was the large trucking companies that lobbied for this action. This was the catylist that sparked the rate issues we've had ever since.
- The subsidizing, and creation, of driving schools with completely inadequate systems to prevent drivers from being allowed to acquire a CDL without proper training. They literally pumped out recruits by the thousands.
- The subsidizing of corporate trucking companies to hire these improperly trained recruits. Alliances were allowed between corporate trucking companies and driving schools. Leading up to allowing corporate trucking companies to actually own, or start their own, driving school. Which led to the injection of hundreds of thousands of improperly trained drivers behind the wheel of rigs.
- The lowering of the age requirement. This has allowed thousands of young drivers which should never have been allowed to get behind the wheel of a rig in the first place. (I'm not saying a young man/woman isn't capable...but the majority of the improperly trained young drivers has led to major impacts within our trucking industry.)
- De-commissioning of the ICC. The authority of this agency was di-sected and spread among several different agencies and departments. Creating not only more government, but confusion among truckers as to which agency held the authority to address specific issues. De-commissioning the ICC is the key catylist which has created the huge problem we have with brokers.
- The latest detrimental action to our industry is DAC. This is an excellent idea and would be beneficial to our industry if utilized correctly. Instead it's being used to extricate drivers from the trucking industry. Drivers that think for themselves and question authority have major issues with DAC reports preventing them from acquiring a job with a company. Corporate trucking companies are being allowed to abuse this government initiated agency - effectively banning experienced truckers that think for themselves and question corporate actions regarding how they must perform.
- The next step coming...if we don't get our heads out of our butts and do something...is speed limiters and EOBR's (black boxes.)
Driver recruitment, during this economic period, is mainly due to the large driver turn-around ratio...which is directly related to the actions of our government's involvement within our industry and the allowance of abuse to systems set-up by our government. It must be taken into account the fact that corporate trucking companies are preparing for the upswing of freight tonnage, which is inevitable, and their ability to have enough drivers to handle the tonnage. Hundreds of thousands of O/O's and independents have been driven into bankruptcy and closure, and this will have a huge impact on freight tonnage being covered when the upswing comes. Corporate trucking companies are very much aware of the trucking industry cycles and are building their fleets with mindless zombies that will do what they're told without question...preparing for the inevitable on-slaught of freight tonnage. If you think we have problems now with non-compliance...wait til the upswing of tonnage period comes and there are actually drivers doing what they're told in fear of losing their jobs and not being able to acquire another.
-ss-
to the truth.
