“This chronic underutilization problem does not seem to be a function of what the drivers themselves do or don’t do, but rather an unfortunate consequence of our conventions for scheduling and processing the pickup and delivery appointments,” said David Correll, a research scientist at MIT’s full article: 40% of America’s trucking capacity is left on the table every day, MIT expert tells Congress (msn.com) Looks like Hurry Up and Wait is what the problem is.
He should be focusing on hours driven in an 8 day period. A lot of drivers don't drive 11 if they can help it, they like their recaps.
Someone is finally realizing that drivers sit almost as long as they drive , And they don’t get paid for sitting Until the drivers start getting paid by the hour with OT after 8 and 40 No one is every going to care how much they sit around not making money And the drivers are idiots if they keep spending all day waiting in line at the ports for free , when they could be out making much better money hauling OTR cargo . And the chassis shortage seems easy enough to fix if they have tons of empty containers sitting on them . set the containers at an offsite storage location and move the now empty chassis to pick up a loaded container . But every one involved would rather have an empty container sitting on the chassis . And that doesn’t count the deadhead miles . I know a company that has a pretty steady shipper, and the company y has been burned too many times by slimy ball brokers , so they just stopped hauling brokered loads . the just run empty to pick up a load . They clock a full 50% of their miles empty . But they get paid pretty well by the shipper they usually work for so it works out ok for them , but they COULD haul twice as much cargo , But they don’t because it’s not worth the headache and it prevents them from being able to hop on the super good paying loads. Because the brokers always Always ALWAYS , lie about the pick up and delivery windows . And then Take weeks to pay for hauling the load . If they pay at all. they got screwed by a couple of brokers flat out lied about the delivery windows and then refused to pay etc . they just said F that. It’s not worth it .
The missing 40% is based on a driver driving 6 hours being increased to 10 hour period not driving for 11 hours.
Here's what I read: Correll, the expert, immediately followed that statement with this: Yeah, he specifically based it off of possibly driving 11 hours and we both know he's wrong because that 6.5 hours is not necessarily the time driven for the workday, it's the time driven during a shift. Even if it is for the entire day if someone wants to run on caps and has to deal with a shipper or receiver then 6.5 hours is about right. This isn't about acknowledging hurry up and wait at customers this is about the ATA using an "expert" who doesn't understand HoS to mislead Congress so they can then pimp for 18 year old OTR drivers.
ok, I understand we were comparing Days vs Work shifts. I was just looking at the quick math 6.5 hours is about 60% and leaving 40% on the table was about 10 hours (in a shift) not in a day as you are correct. thanks
Insurance cos will never cover an 18 year old male driving a 80,000 lb truck, liability insurance only on a car is like $3500 for six months coverage. -it's lack of blood supply to the brain 30 to 40 times a day.
So the article says part of the problem is the pay is not enticing enough, and not efficient scheduling by shippers and receivers. But their “solution” is to attract 18 yr olds and more women? Hmmm. Yeah this will clear up the log jams most ricky tick. Brilliant.
I think whoever wrote the article mashed two different points together. MIT dude was talking about how much trucks sit waiting for appointments and making the time spent in the dock less. Then Ata (or whoever) started talking "driver shortage" and the author conflate the two ideas.
