Role of Truckers in Driving Supply Chain Efficiencies
Supply chain networks are crucial for all product based businesses. It involves the transportation of stocks from the manufacturer to the points of sales and ultimately the consumer. The trucking segment is an essential part of this system. Today, it is largely the truck drivers employed in CDL home daily jobs who facilitate the delivery of consignments for both traditional and online retail.
Understanding supply chain networks
In a broad sense, supply chain network is about the flow of raw materials, product components, and manufactured/assembled products through multiple points until they reach the customers. Along with raw materials and finished goods, it also involves the flow of information, services, and finances between businesses.
Supply chains encompass different stages that include manufacturing, storage and distribution. They are typically characterized by high volumes of stocks that pass through several locations. There are frequent changes in inventory levels at each location along the way.
A good example of companies that depend on supply chain efficiencies would be Amazon. As an e-commerce marketplace, Amazon ships millions of packages every year and it maintains its own network of internal transportation. It also employs the services of logistics firms such as FedEx and helps to create CDL local jobs for truck drivers.
Indeed, truckers play an important role in supply chain management. Some of the facts that highlight their significance:
Almost every supply chain network in the US uses trucks to move consignments at some stage of the value cycle
70% of the freight tonnage transported in the United States moves on trucks
Because they stay aware of road closures and can anticipate rush hour traffic, truck drivers can ensure timely pickups and deliveries of stocks
Today, truck driver regularly use mobile apps to keep their employers and other stakeholders in the supply chain network aware of the shipments’ locations at any given time
Such facts make it evident that truck drivers are critical for supply chains to survive and thrive. However, the major challenge that the logistics industry does not like to talk about is that there is a huge shortage of experienced truck drivers in the US.
The industry lost around 6% of its truckers since Covid-19 started and it still struggles to recruit them. At present, it requires at least 80,000 truck drivers. On the other hand, the American Trucking Association has analyzed that the industry is headed for a shortage of around 160,000 truckers by 2030. And there will be a need for one million of them over the next decade.
It is also interesting to note that even before the pandemic, it was the truck drivers in long-haul jobs who were calling it quits. The annualized turnover for such truckers averaged 90%. When Covid outbreaks added more challenges, some transportation companies recorded attrition up to 150%. In addition to the second and third waves of Covid (bringing new variants), the Great Resignation trend also contributed to a large number of long-haul truckers leaving their jobs.
Even when truckers who cover long distances can earn around $100,000 a year, it is not easy to make a living. They stay on the road for most part of their life. If they have a family back home, they don’t get to see them for weeks and months, and at times not even during the holidays. They stop at small motels by the roadside for food and rest. And the unhygienic conditions at such places make them vulnerable to Covid-19 and other diseases.
Some of these long-haul truckers use their own trucks, bearing the costs of gas, maintenance, and insurance – such additional expenses eat into their take-home pay.
As the job markets across other sectors were offering more than 10 million opportunities, several truckers decided to quit their transportation jobs. They switched over to construction, real estate dealings, manufacturing operations, warehouse management, or even started their own business.
Do truckers have other options to support supply chain management?
Even as truckers are leaving their jobs, the experienced truck drivers who understand the intricacies of supply chains can continue to nurture them by simply moving from long-haul to home everyday jobs. Offered to CDL drivers, these jobs allow truckers to transport consignments during the day and be at their home for supper and sleep.
The job descriptions and the duties that truckers in such jobs are expected to handle are simple and straightforward:
Ensuring that consignments are picked up and delivered to assigned areas in time
Collaborating with back-office teams of transportation companies and gathering the documents related to the stocks for smooth transit
Maintaining a record of stocks moved between different destinations each day
Following a compliant driving style, taking care of their truck’s fuel efficiency, and maintaining it well to minimize the need for sudden repairs
Staying up to date on weather news to ensure safe driving conditions on various routes
By staying in home everyday jobs – that offer good payouts, medical benefits, paid vacations, and job security truckers can keep improving the skills they mastered to get a CDL permit and continue to be a part of the dynamic supply chain networks.
