On Friday, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Deputy Administrator Meera Joshi announced they had met with several transportation organizations in the Midwest to discuss strengthening commercial vehicle safety, bolstering truck driver availability, and improving rail-to-truck supply chain efficiencies.
Truck driver retention and recruitment have been the focuses of the White House Task Force on Supply Chain Disruptions, the agency said, noting that the main reason for America’s truck driver capacity issues is the low retention of current drivers. Driver turnover rates for large trucking companies are over 90 percent annually.
“Truck drivers are essential professionals who have been working on the front lines of this pandemic. It’s hard to overstate the critical nature of trucking to the wellbeing of our Nation,” Joshi said. “Truck driving is a vital segment of the supply chain, and our focus is on continually enhancing workplace practices while improving efficiencies, including decreasing driver detention time while ensuring the highest level of safety possible for every roadway traveler.”
Joshi held meetings with the representatives of the Illinois Farm Bureau Association, the Illinois Trucking Association, Union Pacific Railroad’s Global IV Intermodal Terminal, and a United Parcel Service’s driver training facility.
Discussions covered a broad range of strategies to improve supply chain movement, as well as roadway safety. The groups also discussed streamlining fuel transportation to farm equipment, updating electronic logging devices, replicating proven driver training and retention models, and improving rail-to-truck intermodal chassis maintenance and chassis availability.
“The Illinois Trucking Association sincerely appreciated the opportunity to meet with Deputy Administrator Joshi to discuss the issues that are most important to the trucking industry,” said ITA Executive Director Matt Hart. “Seventy percent of Illinois communities depend entirely on the trucking industry to deliver their goods, and our industry accounts for 1 in 16 jobs in the state. Because our industry is facing unprecedented challenges with our supply chain and with our workforce, we welcome the opportunity to discuss these problems and possible solutions to ensure we safely deliver the essential goods that Americans need each day. We look forward to continuing to work with FMCSA to ensure our nation’s freight is delivered safely.”