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Wait I was told that the truck driver shortage was purely a Brexit issue? How can it be happening in Texas as well?

makomk 5y ago
To cut a long story short, the media lied. Apparently fuel stations in the US have even run out of fuel and had to close due to the ongoing shortage of truck drivers - it just didn't turn into a major crisis like in the UK because it was only reported on by specialist outlets like Bloomberg, so almost no-one knew it was happening and there was no panic buying to cause more widespread shortages. Plenty of mainstream US publications covered the UK problems, but none of them seem to have published articles about the "fuel shortage" closer to home.
- pwagland 5y ago
  CNN isn't mainstream media anymore? https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/29/economy/truck-driver-shortage-pay-hikes/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/29/economy/truck-driver-shor... FoxNews neither? https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/truck-drivers-shortage-2021 https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/truck-drivers-shortage... Funnily enough, the trade rags seem to imply that this is all a big scare by big business trying to push down the salaries of drivers: https://www.trucknews.com/transportation/truck-driver-shortage-is-mythical-ooida-says/1003153130/ https://www.trucknews.com/transportation/truck-driver-shorta...
  - makomk 5y ago
    Those articles literally do not mention fuel stations having to close as a result of the driver shortage at all, whereas here in the UK it was front-page headline news. No mention of fuel shortages means no mass panic buying and no actual fuel crisis where carers and nurses can't get enough fuel to drive to work like the one in the UK. Also, the UK truck driver shortage is very much a consequence of companies systematically underpaying drivers, resulting in really high turnover in the industry - just like that trade article you linked describes in the US. It's just that becaues part of the mechanism by which they got away with that is drivers from lower-cost-of-living countries in the EU, all the anti-Brexit folks are siding with the trucking industry...
pwagland 5y ago
Two things: a) It isn't a purely Brexit issue, however Brexit has made it worse since UK employers can't even pay more to get drivers in, even if they wanted to, as there isn't the local capacity, and they can't bring in EU labour anymore. b) It's probably not as good a deal as it appears anyway: https://www.fastcompany.com/90634247/no-a-texas-company-is-not-paying-people-14000-a-week-for-driving-a-truck https://www.fastcompany.com/90634247/no-a-texas-company-is-n...

To cut a long story short, the media lied. Apparently fuel stations in the US have even run out of fuel and had to close due to the ongoing shortage of truck drivers - it just didn't turn into a major crisis like in the UK because it was only reported on by specialist outlets like Bloomberg, so almost no-one knew it was happening and there was no panic buying to cause more widespread shortages. Plenty of mainstream US publications covered the UK problems, but none of them seem to have published articles about the "fuel shortage" closer to home.

pwagland 5y ago
CNN isn't mainstream media anymore? https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/29/economy/truck-driver-shortage-pay-hikes/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/29/economy/truck-driver-shor... FoxNews neither? https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/truck-drivers-shortage-2021 https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/truck-drivers-shortage... Funnily enough, the trade rags seem to imply that this is all a big scare by big business trying to push down the salaries of drivers: https://www.trucknews.com/transportation/truck-driver-shortage-is-mythical-ooida-says/1003153130/ https://www.trucknews.com/transportation/truck-driver-shorta...
- makomk 5y ago
  Those articles literally do not mention fuel stations having to close as a result of the driver shortage at all, whereas here in the UK it was front-page headline news. No mention of fuel shortages means no mass panic buying and no actual fuel crisis where carers and nurses can't get enough fuel to drive to work like the one in the UK. Also, the UK truck driver shortage is very much a consequence of companies systematically underpaying drivers, resulting in really high turnover in the industry - just like that trade article you linked describes in the US. It's just that becaues part of the mechanism by which they got away with that is drivers from lower-cost-of-living countries in the EU, all the anti-Brexit folks are siding with the trucking industry...

pwagland 5y ago

Two things: a) It isn't a purely Brexit issue, however Brexit has made it worse since UK employers can't even pay more to get drivers in, even if they wanted to, as there isn't the local capacity, and they can't bring in EU labour anymore. b) It's probably not as good a deal as it appears anyway: https://www.fastcompany.com/90634247/no-a-texas-company-is-not-paying-people-14000-a-week-for-driving-a-truck https://www.fastcompany.com/90634247/no-a-texas-company-is-n...