Moving Words – Issues Part 1

State of Moving 2019  Part 1

“Everyone has their story. Everyone has issues. You have to face your fears.” – Lisa Bonet

2018 recorded many changes for the trucking and moving industry: a strengthening economy, increased freight volumes and hauling rates which reflected the tight freight market. This was the result of many differing yet converging factors.

According to the American Transportation Research Institute’s (ATRI), “Critical Issues In The Trucking Industry – 2018 Report” in October, 2018, the following are the top five of ten issues movers, van lines and their agents are facing as we look forward to 2019. (The remaining five will be in the next blog post.) These are in the order from most to least critical, according to ATRI’s survey of trucking companies. (It should be noted the majority of carriers surveyed for this list were large or mega-carriers from The American Trucking Associations carrier members, meaning the numeric order of the list may or may not apply to the moving industry critical issue list.)

Driver Shortage

Driver shortage and finding qualified, trained drivers has been and will continue to be an issue with which all movers contend. The vast majority of movers certainly do face the challenge of finding qualified, experienced van operators to load, transport and unload the HHG and other freight movers handle. The biggest challenge for the moving industry is locating and hiring individuals willing to learn and develop the skills necessary to be a van operator.

Hours of Service (HOS)

HOS continues to be a major headache for the largest segment of movers, with the greatest area of concern being the lack of flexibility in the 14-hour rule. There is no leeway currently to turn off this clock when unsafe circumstances occur such as inclement winter weather, potentially severe weather (tornado warnings), accidents that have roadways blocked, or allow a short-term layover to avoid rush hour traffic. Not to mention the challenge movers face with the length of time required by a van operator to inventory, load, transport and unload a shipment, all on the clock.

Driver Retention

Driver retention is mostly a large and mega-carrier issue. Not that it doesn’t have some impact on movers, but it’s not a constant problem. Most movers are better able to address many of the problems which cause larger carriers’ fluctuating retention rates.

Electronic Logging Device (ELD)

After the first full year of all truckers having to use a certified Electronic Logging Device, there are still concerns for many household movers in how ELD use is impacting the efficiency and safety of truck drivers. Most of these concerns stem from loss of responsive flexibility in the unpredictable environment of Over-The-Road trucking. In the eyes of many truckers, the constraints the ELDs place on drivers when the unexpected occurs create safety issues in themselves.

Truck Parking
The availability of truck parking has continued to worsen with little action taken by the Federal Highway Administration and the FMCSA since the original FHWA 2015 Jason’s Law Parking Survey Results and Comparative Analysis was completed. This survey confirmed that the lack of safe truck parking is a major issue in the United States. The current solution of the FHWA is to prepare an updated survey and report to be released in 2019. This survey will include parking concerns for drayage and short-haul drivers to access the parking challenges around the nation’s ports.

The next five on the list of the American Transportation Research Institute’s (ATRI) “Critical Issues In The Trucking Industry – 2018 Report” will be discussed in the next blog.

“Issues are never simple. One thing I’m proud of is that very rarely will you hear me simplify the issues.” – Barack Obama

Timothy D. Brady © 2018

To contact Brady, go to www.timothybrady.com