Being a truck driver is an underappreciated profession. There are nasty stereotypes and the general public often show a lack of respect to truckers when they’re on the road. Driving a truck is often considered to be a “last resort” profession, even for a culture built proudly on the backs of blue collar workers. This mindset about being a truck driver is not only plain wrong, it’s also causing problems as younger drivers don’t take up the reigns for older drivers as they enter retirement age.

We want to correct the narrative. Truckers provide essential services to our country, undergo extensive training, work hard, and provide a good lifestyle for their families. Here are just a few of the reasons that being a truck driver should earn more respect.

1. Our economy would collapse –

This is perhaps the biggest reason that truck drivers deserve more respect. Just about everything that is used or consumed was at one point transported on a truck. This is especially true for essentials like food and household items. Imagine if truckers stopped coming to work. Supermarket store shelves would empty and people everywhere would go hungry. Is your garden bountiful enough to feed your family? We didn’t think so.

Food isn’t the only thing that wouldn’t make it to store shelves. Without truckers, raw materials couldn’t be supplied to manufacturers, new products couldn’t be produced, nothing could be delivered to end consumers, and even the postal service couldn’t operate. Not only that, gas stations would run out of fuel and even “white-collar” professions would have to halt transportation of all kinds failed. Without truckers, our economy would collapse.

Next time you buy a sandwich from your local deli, fill up on the way to work, or check your mailbox, remember that truckers are at least partially responsible for providing you what you need.

2. Lives literally depend on truckers –

Imagine what would happen if hospitals and pharmacies couldn’t get replenished with medicine and supplies. It would only take 24 hours for the absence of drivers to put lives at risk. Hospitals would begin to run low on basic medical supplies and people in need wouldn’t be able to get the help they require. Within a single week, hospitals would be running low on oxygen, leaving thousands of people in dire risk of suffocation. This isn’t even to mention life-saving medicine like insulin and antibiotics getting to the people who need them.

Besides medicine and medical supplies quickly running out, other life-saving products like heating fuels couldn’t be delivered either. People living where the winter is harsh would be at serious risk of freezing. Small children and the elderly are at particular risk if the heat goes out. Within one month of truckers being absent from our economy, bottled water supplies would be gone as well, causing issues for homes without reliable drinking water. Truckers are needed to make sure that these essentials arrive at the homes of the people who need them.

3. Truckers are highly trained –

There’s a misconception that being a trucker requires little skill and no training. This isn’t true at all. Our culture places undue emphasis on a 4-year college degree and often ignores the vocational and training programs used to prepare some of the most valuable workers in our economy.

Truckers go through extensive training to get to where they are. They have to become licensed in the specific type of rig they drive, which is often a CDL license, or they might get certification to handle chemicals or other hazardous materials they’re transporting. Truckers have to pass many tests including physical, written and driving before they can head out onto the road. They need to learn about the industry’s transportation regulations and keep up with the ever-changing laws. New tools like Electronic Logging Devices require them to adapt and learn about new technologies.

Check out this video of a driver completing a seemingly impossible maneuver with his truck. Now tell me that being a trucker doesn’t require skill, training and experience:

4. Truckers are tough, hard workers –

Being a truck driver isn’t for the faint of heart. During a 24 hour period, a trucker is allowed to be on the job for 14 consecutive hours, 11 of which can be behind the wheel. That’s a long day no matter the profession, but truckers need to work these long hours to complete long-haul journeys up to 1500 miles away from home. Truckers are true road warriors, sometimes spending weeks away from home to provide for their families.

It isn’t only the amount of time truckers spend behind the wheel that should earn them respect, it’s also for the difficulty of operating a truck safety and efficiently on the highway. As mentioned above, driving a truck requires training and certification courses, and there’s a reason for that. It’s because driving a truck isn’t as easy as the general public like to think. Though it would be great if every highway was a straight-shot without any traffic on a cool fall day, that isn’t the reality. Truckers need to battle severe weather, rude drivers of passenger cars and navigating unfamiliar and often small roads to drop off their deliveries.

Driving a truck isn’t about sitting behind a wheel and turning it occasionally, it’s about making sure that the products the public needs are delivered safely to their end destinations. This means being hyper-vigilant about drivers hiding in blind spots or zooming around the truck dangerously, staying aware of speed and weight limits, and keeping track of local weather patterns. This level of attention is tough and requires every trucker’s full attention.

5. Community –

Truckers have a strong sense of community despite spending many hours alone each day. Some have developed ways to communicate with one another using their headlights and the majority have strong relationships with law enforcement. Unlike common drivers who often feel anxiety when passing a speed trap set by a cop, truckers typically obey speed limits and have good relationships with the police.

There’s also a stereotype that truckers are unapproachable and unfriendly, something that’s been exaggerated in the media. Though there are undoubtedly curmudgeons in every industry, truckers have banded together to create some truly inspiring organizations. One such organization is Truckers Against Trafficking, a program where truckers can get certified to recognize and report incidents of human trafficking. The program exists to “educate, equip, empower and mobilize members of the trucking and busing industries to combat human trafficking.” Currently, there are 680,153 registered TAT trained drivers and more than 1100 victims have been identified due to the organization’s members. That’s a real difference!

Another organization run by truckers is Operation Roger, an initiative to “help needy pets travel to their new homes and have a better chance at a fun-filled life by giving them a hitchhike in the cabs of their trucks and a lot of TLC enroute.” This organization has united or reunited 970 pets, generally one at a time, with their families.

It’s clear to see that truckers deserve respect for the job they do every day. It’s an underappreciated profession that is truly the backbone of our economy. By transporting essentials, truckers are keeping people alive, fed, warm, and happy each and every day. If you know a trucker, make sure to thank him or her for doing what they do!

From the Kuebix team to every trucker, THANK YOU!

H.C. Starck is a fabricator of refractory metals servicing the electronics and chemical processing industries. As a company, H.C. Starck has been around for about 125 years and felt that they knew how to efficiently manage their transportation operations without any help. 10 years ago, however, they decided to check out how Kuebix could save them money with their transportation management system (TMS). Since implementation, not only has H.C. Starck saved money, but their freight operations have become more efficient.

With the help of Kuebix TMS, H.C. Stark has averaged about 14% savings on freight costs annually. Those are the hard costs which can be calculated right away and have an obvious impact on the bottom line. The company has also expanded their use of Kuebix services beyond the traditional rating, booking and tracking of freight. Now, they also use Kuebix to have all of their suppliers ship inbound to them. H.C. Starck no longer needs to arrange inbound freight. Instead, their suppliers simply call Kuebix and inbound freight is shipped to their docks with the best available rate. With this service, H.C. Starck estimates that they have saved approximately half a person’s worth of labor.

H.C. Starck’s Logistics Manager, Mark Smolinsky, reports that Kuebix has made his job easier since the first day they got involved with Kuebix. He states that implementing Kuebix is not only a great way to save money, but that it has improved service to end customers as well.

See what Mark Smolinsky has to say about how Kuebix has helped H.C. Starck save money and become more efficient in the case study video below:

 

Many changes in transportation regulations are coming this year that we’d like to make sure you are aware of.

The Electronic Logging Device (ELD) mandate, which made it illegal for truck drivers to only use paper-logging books to record hours at work and mileage is now over a year old, but groups are still petitioning FMCSA for exemption from the rule. Since ELDs have been put to use, most companies have come to grips with the disruption, some even citing improved efficiencies within their transport operations.

By the end of 2019, the older generations of onboard recording devices will have to be replaced with newer versions. By December 16, 2019, all drivers and carriers subject to the rule must use self-certified ELDs that are registered with FMCSA.

The last major Hours of Service (HoS) revision occurred in 2004. This year the rules will be tweaked, focusing on 4 areas, which include:

•      •     Expanding the current 100 air-mile “short-haul” exemption from 12 hours on-duty to 14 hours on-duty, in order to be consistent with the rules for long-haul truck drivers;
•      •     Extending the current 14-hour on-duty limitation by up to 2 hours when a truck driver encounters adverse driving conditions;
•      •     Revising the current mandatory 30-minute break for truck drivers after 8 hours of continuous driving; and
•      •     Reinstating the option for splitting up the required 10-hour off-duty rest break for drivers operating trucks that are equipped with a sleeper-berth compartment.

In Congress, a bill that would lower the minimum age of 21 years for commercial truck drivers working in interstate commerce could emerge this year. The bill will allow people between the ages of 18 and 21 to get a commercial driver license once they have logged 400 hours of on-duty time and 240 hours of driving time with an experienced driver. When complete, young drivers can drive big trucks on the interstate, which will hopefully help with the driver shortage.

On January 6, 2020, a new drug and alcohol clearinghouse will go into effect. It is an electronic database containing alcohol and drug violations of commercial vehicle drivers. The clearinghouse will help to ensure that commercial vehicle drivers and the public that share the road with them are safe.

Lots of us make personal New Year’s resolutions, and some even stick to them! You might decide to hit the gym, stop smoking or start a savings account. Whatever it is, the New Year offers a fresh opportunity to do some goal setting and put your best foot forward. New Year’s resolutions don’t only apply to your personal life though, logistics professionals should start thinking about their supply chain goals for the New Year and resolve to make positive changes in their processes.

Resolve to Get Tech-Savvy

We’re in the midst of an innovation storm where new technologies are emerging from all sides. These new pieces of tech are putting the pressure on supply chains to improve their operations in order to keep up with the competition. This can be a good place to start if you’re trying to think of a good supply chain New Year’s resolution. Think about how trends like automated intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), Blockchain, transportation management systems (TMS), RFID and GPS, electronic logging devices (ELDs), and other technologies are impacting your current operations.

Think about whether you’re leveraging your current technology to its fullest capacity. Ask yourself whether you’ve been procrastinating implementing a piece of technology that you know is only a matter of time. Do you understand all the benefits different supply chain technologies can give you? These questions can get you started in finding the right supply chain resolution for 2019.

Resolve to Improve Customer Satisfaction

Rising customer expectations may also be a sticking point for your company. Resolving to improve customer satisfaction might be a great resolution for your supply chain! Customers are demanding cheaper (if not free) shipping, complete visibility to their orders, and deliveries in record time. What once passed for acceptable is no longer good enough for customers accustomed to special treatment from retail giants like Amazon who offer trackable, free, 2-day shipping to members.

Instead of only asking yourself, you can ask your customers if they are satisfied with your service. Keeping track of customer satisfaction scores can help you understand the areas of opportunity you have in your supply chain. Areas to consider include order processing time (from the time they place the order until it leaves the dock), how difficult it is for a customer to get answers about their shipments, and whether you’re charging your customers the lowest possible amount in shipping.

Resolve to Cut Costs

This is probably a goal that you have year-in and year-out, but that doesn’t make it any less important for 2019. With the capacity crunch and driver shortage, freight rates have been steadily rising for over a decade. It’s difficult to keep shipping costs low when there don’t seem to be a lot of options out there. Couple higher costs with the rising customer expectations mentioned above and you have a recipe for poor profit margins and dissatisfied customers.

If you resolve to cut costs out of your supply chain in 2019, you should start by determining where there is waste in your current system. Are you wasting time individually calling up carriers to ask for rates? Is your network of partners as large as it could be? Are you tracking KPIs to make sure that external partners aren’t costing you money? Could you be consolidating shipments into larger loads or combining several routes into one optimized lane? Could your AR/AP process due with a little streamlining to make sure dollars aren’t being missed? There are many ways supply chains can cut costs on freight spend and which make excellent supply chain New Year’s resolutions.

Your Supply Chain New Year’s Resolution

Whatever you choose as your supply chain New Year’s resolution, make sure that it is measurable and achievable. Keep yourself on track with analytics and make sure to consider the ramifications for the entire supply chain, not only your own department. Making goals and sticking to them can help you enter the modern age with technology, earn loyal and happy customers, and do it all with lower costs and less waste!

Driver fatigue and distraction have long been known to be dangerous, especially for truck drivers who often work long hours. Long before the modern age of handheld technology, drivers were becoming distracted by eating behind the wheel, rummaging around in bags, or even checking their faces in the rear-view mirror for too long. Driver fatigue is especially dangerous as the driver’s full attention is no longer on the road. Distraction and fatigue are issues that some are hoping can be eliminated with the help of technology so that accidents and even deaths can be avoided.

There are two schools of thought on how issues of driver distraction and fatigue can be mitigated. Some technologies measure and act when the truck performs an action that isn’t considered safe and others monitor the driver’s own actions. Both schools of thought have their own merits and drawbacks.

Tech that Monitors the Truck

Similar to how electronic logging devices (ELDs) monitor how long the truck has been in gear and moving, there are new technologies that are measuring other aspects of the trip. Technology like that from Lytx monitors actions like weaving and hard braking. When these types of driving events occur, the system gives the driver an audible alert to let them know that not all is well. After the third such event in quick succession, the system activates a camera and saves footage 8 seconds before and 4 seconds after the event stops. That footage can then be sent off for review and any corrective action needed can be taken.

Tech that Monitors the Driver

Another type of technology that can be used instead of truck monitoring software is driver monitoring software. These new technologies are much more space age and even slightly spooky. Netradyne, a company based in San Diego, is producing a camera system which monitors the driver’s eye positioning, their horizontal and vertical head plane and yawns, and can identify drowsy or distracted driving. If any of the predefined actions indicating distracted/sleepy driving are triggered, an alert (such as a chime or a seat rumble) will occur. These alerts will become more intense with the severity of the event and are designed to be highly annoying to get the driver’s immediate attention.

Besides cameras with sensors monitoring the behavior of drivers, there are also all sort of wearables doing the same thing. Smart watches and even smart headbands are monitoring things like brainwaves, heart rate, etc. This level of tech definitely feels like it’s out of a sci-fi film!

The Future of Driver Fatigue/Distraction

Monitoring the behavior of drivers to help avoid dangerous behavior like falling asleep at the wheel or texting will help to keep our roads safe. There is still a question of which technologies will prove most useful and least invasive to individual driver’s privacy. Depending on the results, it’s likely that all trucks will soon come equipped with advanced monitoring technology like those described above. With the relative success of the ELD Mandate, it’s only a matter of time before similar action is taken to ensure driver fatigue and distraction is reduced on the roads.