Pro-truck (and anti-rail) op-ed in Jan. 11 Star-Ledger

wis bang wrote:With Inbound container shipments are out growing all expectations by 20% to 30% each year, I don't know where we are going to find the needed drivers. I work for an intermodal drayage company. Our turnover is tremendous. Most port drivers are immegrants working as independent contractors. Post 9-11 measures are weeding out illegals w/ bad SSN's so our available pool of owner opeartors is shrinking. Hopefully I'll retire b/4 it implodes.

Since the USA doesn't make much of anything to speak of (except enemies), I'm surprised somebody (the trucking industry?) doesn't have some massive recruitment and training program for out-of-work factory workers. In NJ, there must be a couple thousand former auto workers alone. And that's just one obvious source.

rvrrhs wrote: Since the USA doesn't make much of anything to speak of (except enemies), I'm surprised somebody (the trucking industry?) doesn't have some massive recruitment and training program for out-of-work factory workers. In NJ, there must be a couple thousand former auto workers alone. And that's just one obvious source.

Most auto workers made too much. Getting them to 'pay' for training when the insurance companies expects two years experience for everyone we hire and then work at an entry level trucking job would be too much. They'd be better off taking State funds and going to computer network school.

The Union Jobs that pay the kind of Money an ex auto worker would take are not readily available.

Actually the industry has been exploring other groups, women & foreign workers. While the number of women drivers is growing; there is still a glass partition in the way. Politics has held up the foreign recruitment.

I think the day is comming when every truck driven by a human will be followed by another that has a robot in charge...Truck drivers are exempt from alot of the labor regulations. They are allowed to work 70 hours a week, every week, to collect a paycheck equal to a decient 40 hour job. They spend gobs of time away from home, sleeping in the truck, showering in truckstops, driving in all kinds of weather & putting wp with all the millions of people that can't drive...It's not that apetizing to many young people.

Port drivers are the bottom of the pond; that's why there are so many foreign born guys making their experience there...Here's a quote about that from The Journal of Commerce "Port trucking remains a low-margin, immigrant-dominated business that's perpetually at the bottom of the intermodal food chain because of its highly competitive, decentralized structure. Unionized trucking companies that pay decent wages and benefits and would be able to attract and maintain a stable work force can't compete against today's non-union firms, mostly independent owner operators. The business is highly transient, with operating conditions making it difficult to hire or retain port drivers. And operating conditions today are miserable". Makes you feel all warm and cozy about the ever growing sector of the import economy...

Port trucking is a very difficult job. Hours of waiting, uncertainty of work.

The Teamsters organizer who was killed in El Salvador (or Guatamala?) was trying to organize the Newark ports drivers when he was gunned down. Initial reports say it was a family killing...

The last I saw was the port drivers were basically getting paid $40 bucks a load hauled out of the port. Not far from slave wages.

rvrrhs wrote: I'm surprised somebody (the trucking industry?) doesn't have some massive recruitment and training program for out-of-work factory workers. In NJ, there must be a couple thousand former auto workers alone. And that's just one obvious source.

Don't know about NJ, but Maine and northern New Hampshire have very active programs to train new truckers. You always see billboards for training programs, and occasionally see trucks with the "driver in training" logo on the sides.

Over the road trucking, especially the long haul, is getting killed on driver availability. Guys don't want to spend 300 nights a year on the road, and get paid peanuts.

Ironically, that puts move containers and trailers on rail, which is good. And, puts more local trucks (home every night) on local roads in the NY NJ metro, which is bad...

There's an article in today's Star-Ledger about the growth in container traffic at ExpressRail. The author notes the PANYNJ's spin about taking trucks off the local roads.


http://www.nj.com/business/ledger/index ... 291040.xml

JLo wrote:The last I saw was the port drivers were basically getting paid $40 bucks a load hauled out of the port. Not far from slave wages.

It used to be easier to make money. Those $40.00 moves were from the rail heads into the port. 5 - 10 mile hauls and the guy was doing 8 - 10 moves a day.

Now the rails all come right into the port, in fact they figure over 250,000 containers railed in/out last year out of the four million containers in/out in ffor the year.

The same port driver is now trying to live on turning exit 13A to 8A making 2 - 3 trips a day if he's lucky, burning twice as much fuel, and for the same money it paid ten years ago. Pier delays hae increased due to the upswing in traffic. M.T. Chassis are now returned to a pool location outside the normal port area, for no extra renumeration. This means it takes longer to do some things. Often it's hard to get more than one or two drays a day depeneding on congestion, waiting for the off loading , etc. Exports take alot longer now too!