American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear didn’t pull any punches during a recent nationally televised interview. He put the responsibility for the truck driver shortage and supply chain woes exactly where they belong — on the shoulders of politicians.
“I think we are at the edge of a cliff right now. I think a year of policies that have led us there generally stem from rewarding people not to return to work,” Spear reportedly said on the Mornings with Maria talk show, adding the “chronic shortage of talent, not just in trucking where we’re short 81,000 drivers, but across every sector of employment.”
Paying people to stay home during the height of the pandemic was a health and safety strategy to slow the spread of Covid while averting economic hardship. Many believe a percentage of the workforce got used to “money for nothing” as the Dire Straits song goes. Even after the pandemic money ran out, returning workers were less than hesitant to quit jobs. The so-called “Great Resignation” saw millions leave positions month-over-month in 2021. And an astonishing 4.5 million people joined the big quit in November alone. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 10.6 million job openings in November after a record 11.03 million in October.
“But it doesn’t have to be this hard or this long if you institute good policy, rather than just being perceived as doing something, you’ll move out of this COVID-induced rut a lot faster,” Spear reportedly said. “It’s really having an impact. You are seeing that in 40-year high on inflation. We are all taking a pay cut in 2022 as a result of bad policies.”
The ATA leader has been a powerful supporter of restoring ailing roads and bridges through the recent $1.2 trillion infrastructure spending package.
“Roads and bridges are not political — we all drive on them,” Spear reportedly said. “A majority in the House and Senate realized this truth and did what’s right for the country, not themselves.”
But more than a few truckers are disappointed that primary issues such as increased safe overnight parking were not addressed. Truckers and passenger vehicle motorists will all benefit from fewer potholes and wider roads. But the decision to spend billions on new EV cars for the DOT does little to support hard-working women and men who deliver upwards of 72 percent of America’s goods and materials.
The Biden Administration also implemented a vaccine mandate that requires truckers returning from Canada or Mexico to show proof. The DRIVE-Safe Act mandate allowing adults 18-20 to participate in interstate trucking is loaded down with stringent requirements. After being signed into law in November, the FMCSA waited until January 2022 to roll out a “pilot program.” Perhaps this type of political slow-walking and over-regulation is precisely the political failure that exacerbated a workforce shortage.
Sources: foxbusiness.com, fortune.com, freightwaves.com
Leave a Comment