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It's very unintuitive how it'd be cheaper to leave that many trucks sitting there instead of paying workers a bit more. Surely whatever a driver transports is

It's very unintuitive how it'd be cheaper to leave that many trucks sitting there instead of paying workers a bit more. Surely whatever a driver transports is worth much more than the paycheck they get?

xxpor 5y ago
It seems like most of corporate America operates under the if you give an inch they'll take a mile theory.
newsclues 5y ago
A) is there a shortage of trucks or drivers? B) are there bottlenecks at the ports that prevent more trucks? C) can rail be used to move boxes? D) who is making money by things NOT moving?
- zdragnar 5y ago
  - Yes, many older truckers retired instead of dealing with COVID. This applies to many other sectors, most notably in my area school bus drivers. Other countries (notably, UK and EU fuel truck drivers) are also facing shortages of truck drivers. Nursing, retail, hospitslity have all been in the news recently for the same issue. Recent reports show 12 million open positions and only 8 million people seeking employment (estimsted, of course) - physical layout only allows for so much throughput at a time. The bigger the jam, the longer it'll take to clear - yes and no. Rail doesn't (directly) go to most places, and those that it could, often don't have distribution logistics in place from the customers since they already have their chain configured for trucks - it is a net loss all around for everyone. Any higher prices on goods are offsetting losses from reduction in volume. Theres no evil fairy tale villain to blame.
- AnimalMuppet 5y ago
  I recently heard (second hand, so take with some salt) that there are two causes of problems: First, California passed a law that trucks had to be newer than 10 years, or else face an expensive refit for pollution control. (At least, I think it was pollution control.) Point is, the average truck was 14 years old. The obvious-in-retrospect consequence is a shortage of trucks that can legally work in California. Second, there was this recent law that required Uber to treat drivers as employees, not contractors. Well, a lot of the truck drivers are owner-operators, and they fell under that law. The consequence: You can't just contract with an owner-operator to move your container. As I said, I don't know any of this first-hand, so take with some salt.
  - newsclues 5y ago
    Stupid government policy making the problems worse makes a lot of sense.
  - spicybright 5y ago
    Wow, that's a huge stifle on the shipping industry. Do our representatives not realize literally EVERYTHING we have access to depends on trucking?
MattGaiser 5y ago
I would have thought that knowledge of company systems and domain knowledge would be of value of companies, but it isn’t.
Consultant32452 5y ago
I have an insider's info about the airline shortages, I suspect trucking is the same way. When the pandemic was going on and everything was shut down many of the older staff decided to just retire. You cannot quickly spawn up new pilots or ATCs. Some small percentage of workers are facing a medical mandate they may be unwilling to comply with and so are using any sick days that they may lose after being fired when the mandate hits. The ones that remain are so overworked they are exhausted and unable to work more and/or are getting sick due to stress and exhaustion.

xxpor 5y ago

It seems like most of corporate America operates under the if you give an inch they'll take a mile theory.

newsclues 5y ago

A) is there a shortage of trucks or drivers? B) are there bottlenecks at the ports that prevent more trucks? C) can rail be used to move boxes? D) who is making money by things NOT moving?

zdragnar 5y ago
- Yes, many older truckers retired instead of dealing with COVID. This applies to many other sectors, most notably in my area school bus drivers. Other countries (notably, UK and EU fuel truck drivers) are also facing shortages of truck drivers. Nursing, retail, hospitslity have all been in the news recently for the same issue. Recent reports show 12 million open positions and only 8 million people seeking employment (estimsted, of course) - physical layout only allows for so much throughput at a time. The bigger the jam, the longer it'll take to clear - yes and no. Rail doesn't (directly) go to most places, and those that it could, often don't have distribution logistics in place from the customers since they already have their chain configured for trucks - it is a net loss all around for everyone. Any higher prices on goods are offsetting losses from reduction in volume. Theres no evil fairy tale villain to blame.
AnimalMuppet 5y ago
I recently heard (second hand, so take with some salt) that there are two causes of problems: First, California passed a law that trucks had to be newer than 10 years, or else face an expensive refit for pollution control. (At least, I think it was pollution control.) Point is, the average truck was 14 years old. The obvious-in-retrospect consequence is a shortage of trucks that can legally work in California. Second, there was this recent law that required Uber to treat drivers as employees, not contractors. Well, a lot of the truck drivers are owner-operators, and they fell under that law. The consequence: You can't just contract with an owner-operator to move your container. As I said, I don't know any of this first-hand, so take with some salt.
- newsclues 5y ago
  Stupid government policy making the problems worse makes a lot of sense.
- spicybright 5y ago
  Wow, that's a huge stifle on the shipping industry. Do our representatives not realize literally EVERYTHING we have access to depends on trucking?

MattGaiser 5y ago

I would have thought that knowledge of company systems and domain knowledge would be of value of companies, but it isn’t.

Consultant32452 5y ago

I have an insider's info about the airline shortages, I suspect trucking is the same way. When the pandemic was going on and everything was shut down many of the older staff decided to just retire. You cannot quickly spawn up new pilots or ATCs. Some small percentage of workers are facing a medical mandate they may be unwilling to comply with and so are using any sick days that they may lose after being fired when the mandate hits. The ones that remain are so overworked they are exhausted and unable to work more and/or are getting sick due to stress and exhaustion.