The trucking industry has been undergoing a metamorphosis of sorts over the last several years.
These changes have been driven by inward and outside forces. Within the industry, changes include the advancement of technologies for everything from fuel consumption, to driver management, to how a load and driver are dispatched. Outside forces include new and changing safety and environmental regulations coming down the pike from the federal government and states rewriting or adding rules such as increased speed limits and ramped-up vehicle inspections. Then there are demands and alterations that are influenced by the wants and needs of shippers and receivers. All of these changes create challenges for trucking companies and truckers alike. And these changes may require a paradigm shift in how different tasks in the overall supply chain are handled.
As small and micro-trucking company owners, we may have little control over many of these changes, but we can adjust to them far quicker than many of our larger counterparts. To meet the challenges over which we have no control, however, we must be willing to learn new skills and new ways of doing things. It’s like teaching an old dog some new tricks.
While we may not like the idea of speed limiters on our trucks or electronic logging devices, for example, they are going to be a major part of our business model. So, we can’t just throw in the towel and walk away from trucking; we need to figure out a way to make these challenges work to our benefit.
Many of us “older” truckers operate within a comfort zone of paper logs and speed governors on our trucks set at what we know are safe levels. We have the safety records to prove we’re quite capable, but we understand that doesn’t give us license to go over the posted speed limit.
Being safe when it comes to time behind the wheel and the amount of rest we get in a sleeper berth is of the utmost importance. We know that both are relative to the current traffic, road conditions, and health of the driver behind the wheel, but that doesn’t always fit within the 14/11/10/70 parameters of the current hours of service. Sadly, there are others within the industry—drivers and those who manage them—who don’t use the common-sense approach toward ensuring safety on the road. But because the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has to base its regulations on the lowest common denominator, we must all play by their rules.
As the industry moves in new directions, we will change as the need arises. As older truckers, we realize it’s not effort alone that brings success; we have to adjust to our environment as it will not adjust to us. We must recognize what new skills need to be learned and then apply them to stay in trucking.
Contact Tim Brady at 731-749-8567 or at www.timothybrady.com
