So-called “tech bros” are notorious for hating the so-called “normies,” but one industry in which this trend is particularly noticeable is trucking. Truckers often shun social media, want nothing to do with cryptocurrencies, and reject anything that could be considered high tech – even though they’re playing a game on their phone when driving! The reason? It’s not because of fear or ignorance; it’s just because truck drivers aren’t well funded enough to remain financially afloat if they were online 24/7. Even worse, many companies don’t pay them well – making them more likely to seek other work in order make ends meet.
The “day in the life of a truck driver” is an article that tells about what it’s like to be a trucker. It is interesting to read about, as it is not something most people know about.
To assist alleviate supply-chain bottlenecks, the Biden administration pushed ports in Southern California to operate 24 hours a day. There hasn’t been much of a reaction to the change.
In mid-September, one terminal at the Port of Long Beach opened its doors to truckers 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from Monday through Thursday. However, when no trucks came up, the terminal had to tighten the requirements. It said in late September that it would only open midnight hours if 25 trucks booked reservations. Only one night since then has those conditions been matched, and only five huge rigs have shown up.
According to Giles Broom, a spokesperson for Total Terminals International LLC, keeping the facility open overnight costs about $10,000 on average. There are no fines for trucking businesses who arrange appointments but do not show up.
The sluggish adoption of 24-hour services at the nation’s biggest port complex, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, exemplifies the difficulty that the Biden administration faces, as supply-chain issues remain despite months of government and business efforts to alleviate congestion. According to the Marine Exchange of Southern California, the complex established a record this week with 86 container ships waiting for a berth offshore.
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Report on Logistics
Top news and in-depth analysis on everything from supply chain to transportation and technology in the field of logistics.
Last month, Vice President Joe Biden announced that nearby ports will switch to 24-hour operations in order to quadruple the amount of time cargo travels off terminals.
TTI is now the only one of the port complex’s 13 terminals that operates 24 hours a day. Los Angeles and Long Beach ports are governmental entities that function as landlords to commercial terminal operators.
Changing to 24/7 operations isn’t like “turning a switch,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said at a news conference at the Port of Los Angeles on Tuesday.
Various partners in supply chains constructed to transfer products from ports to inland distribution hubs and then on to retailers and manufacturers throughout the United States have pointed fingers as a result of the inertia.
TTI’s appointment limitations are so onerous that one trucking business that would want to utilize the 24-hour pickups struggled to qualify for an appointment. TTI mandates companies to drop off specific kinds of empty containers as well as certain types of truck trailers, known as chassis, in order for the terminal to maintain a balance of equipment while picking up full boxes.
“I can get 100 or 200 containers back,” said Paul Brashier, vice president of drayage and intermodal at ITS Logistics in Reno, Nevada. “However, you’re out of luck if they’re not the precise steamship line box on the specific chassis they want at the specified minimum.”
Long-term shortages of drivers and excessive job turnover have plagued the trucking business, but supply-chain bottlenecks have highlighted the need for fresh recruitment. Here’s how some businesses are attempting to get them to get behind the wheel. Getty Images/Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images
Terminal operators are hesitant to go to 24/7 operations, according to Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, since trucks and warehouses do not work those hours.
Shippers, truckers, and warehouses are being encouraged by the Biden administration to work longer hours. Port authorities think that once other parts of the supply chain function all night, 24-hour port operations will take off. “I believe it will take time,” said Mario Cordero, the Port of Long Beach’s executive director.
Because it handles roughly 40% of the nation’s seaborne container imports by volume, the Southern California ports complex is a top priority for the administration. A pandemic-fueled rush by shops and companies to refill reduced inventory in order to satisfy increased customer demand has overrun the terminals.
Additional Information from the Logistics Report
According to research and consultancy company Beacon Economics, the port’s terminals handled the equivalent of 6.9 million loaded containers from January to August this year, up 23 percent from the same period last year.
The cargo influx has jammed several supply chain connections, resulting in product shortages and pushing inflation to a 31-year high in October.
Ships coming from Asia must wait at sea for days or weeks due to a lack of berths, and when they do arrive at the ports, they are unable to unload swiftly due to overcrowding at marine terminals. Port truckers are unable to pick up containers due to a lack of trailers to transport the boxes, and when they can deliver a box, it sometimes remains outside warehouses for days longer than normal due to a lack of staff and space.
The White House has had some success with certain congestion-relieving initiatives.
Walmart Inc., Target Corp., FedEx Corp., and United Parcel Service Inc. have all committed to picking up containers at the Southern California ports more often at night and on weekends. From Nov. 1, the ports stated they will begin charging for loaded containers that had been sitting on marine terminals for nine days or more. They put off calculating the cost for a few weeks, but by November 8, the number of such containers had dropped 20% to 101,000.
—This article was co-written by Alex Leary.
Paul Berger can be reached at [email protected]
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Truck drivers are often treated poorly, and this is the reason why. Drivers of large trucks are more likely to be involved in accidents than car drivers because they lack proper training. Reference: why are truck drivers treated poorly.
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