Last week we talked about the top four industry concerns for carriers, but what about the drivers? Well, drivers don’t exactly share the same set of concerns as carriers do since their jobs and the things they deal with in the field are very different. Here are the things that truck drivers worry about the most.
Truck Parking
At the top of the list, we have truck parking. In case you don’t know, the government has very strict regulations regarding semi-trucks in all aspects including where they park. These regulations may vary from state to state making it all the more confusing for drivers about where to park. For the most part, truck drivers rely on truck stop parking for convenience since they are easy to find and you usually pass many on the road. However, what about times when the truck stop is full? Or how about when a driver runs out of hours and they are nowhere near a truck stop? You can see how easily complicated things can get for drivers traveling over the road.
Pay
The second biggest concern for drivers is their compensation. Many drivers get paid a set rate per mile or a percentage of the load. Either way, the size of their check depends on the loads that are booked for them. This can lead to some serious anxiety for drivers as rates tend to fluctuate quite dramatically on load boards.
Detention
Every truck driver's least favorite situation at a drop-off location is detention. Detention is another way of saying that a driver is at the drop-off location and hasn’t been unloaded yet. Sometimes depending on the situation, a driver may have to sit with a load in their trailer for days. Brokers are supposed to pay a detention rate when this happens (around $250 per day of detention) but sometimes they get out of it if it isn't noted in the rate confirmation. What this means for drivers is that they are now stuck without adequate compensation since they can only make their rate based on their mileage or the price of the load and a percentage of the detention fee.
Hour of Service (HOS)
Last on the list of top driver concerns is the hours of service regulation. Under the HOS law, Drivers can only drive for 11 hours, and can only be on duty for 14 hours, and they must take a 30-minute break approximately 8 hours into their shift. It is up to drivers to properly manage their hours while making sure they deliver their loads on time. Time management is a key skill a driver must employ to ensure that their HOS and pickup/delivery times line up properly.
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