A company's sustainability is seriously threatened by driver retention and shortage concerns. Many are faced with the impossible choice of needing more drivers while also needing help to afford the fees associated with acquiring new ones.
FREMONT, CA: When businesses cited their biggest issues, finding and keeping drivers is the top priority. The lack of components, vehicle breakdowns, and maintenance issues was also cited as top worries, so the issue is only one of many. This is made worse by the industry's increased operational expenses brought on by aging equipment, more stringent regulations, rising consumer expectations for performance, and inflation. Costs spent by these businesses are further increased by the possible need for substantial expenditures in electric and autonomous vehicles, as well as services to support these new technologies.
Due to these problems, businesses may hire more contractors or outsource labor to save on finding, hiring, and keeping staff. However, these actions will only provide short-term solutions to the industry's problems. An approach that is more imaginative and revolutionary is required to increase corporate success over the long term.
Workforce shortage: The operation of a trucking company strongly depends on having enough drivers. One executive who was questioned claimed that they believed "the pool of drivers looking for work has declined from 75,000 to 6,000. Demand for drivers is greater than supply, and the cost to replace a driver has increased to $10,000, with some businesses reporting yearly turnover rates of up to 125 percent. A company's sustainability is seriously threatened by driver retention and shortage concerns. Many are faced with the impossible choice of needing more drivers and needing help to afford the fees associated with acquiring new ones. Sometimes, businesses needing help growing their workforce are forced to hire more contractors, who frequently lack the same expertise, productivity, and dependability as employees.
Supply: The research indicates that most businesses have more drivers than trucks, notwithstanding the variations in their business models. While doing so helps to maximize revenue, productivity, and efficiency suffer when the truck-to-driver ratio is too skewed. It is obvious that if a business has fewer operational vehicles, adding additional drivers won't make up for the shortage of trucks. The quantity of trucks at a company's disposal is threatened by operational problems with dispatch, insufficient emergency roadside services (ERS), and preventative maintenance services (PMS).
The cost of spare components rises as supply falls short of demand. The price of trailers has grown by USD 15,000 in just two years, and businesses anticipate spare parts will cost each spare truck between USD 9,700 and USD 10,000 every month. Such costs make it extremely difficult to retain profitability, especially given that the pandemic's consequences are still being felt around the globe. Operations are further hampered by the inability to deliver components on time because fewer working trucks mean less revenue, more money spent on maintenance, and higher opportunity costs. The lack of parts drives up the repair and maintenance work price and makes it much harder to locate service providers. Companies can respond to the challenges collectively without significant capital investments thanks to centralized software and databases that collect all the necessary data and build a national network of diverse service providers. Thanks to a platform that integrates ERS, PMS, driver management, and truck utilization solutions, companies will have a strong foundation for investments in electric and autonomous vehicles. Companies will also be able to create the extra resources and services necessary to transition into a future of operational success.
