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A survey of truck drivers released by the Women In Trucking Association indicates that most female drivers have been the recipients of verbally offensive comments, threats and physical abuse.
The report, called “Addressing Gender Bias and Harassment in the Trucking Industry,” says 70% of female drivers have been the recipient of verbally offensive comments. Almost 47% of survey respondents have received an unwanted physical advance while on the job, and 39% say they have experienced this more than once.
While many companies with for-hire or private fleets have programs to reduce sexual harassment or gender bias, approximately 30% of the drivers surveyed were either unaware of these programs or stated their employer did not have them in place.
The survey was completed by 436 truck drivers, approximately two-thirds of whom are female.
Although the number of women in transportation is on the rise, the U.S. Department of Labor found that women still currently comprise less than 8% of all truck drivers and sales workers.
The report is available for free at the WIT web site.
The U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued an emergency declaration that provides hours-of-service relief for truckers when they haul baby formula or ingredients needed for production.
President Joe Biden invoked the Defense Production Act on May 18 to increase baby formula production. The emergency declaration exempts carriers and drivers from maximum driving-time regulations when they are transporting baby formula and the ingredients needed for production, including whey, casein, corn syrup, hydrolyzed protein, and containers and packaging.
The declaration will remain in effect through June 30. Read the details of the exemption here.
6 things every executive should know about truckload transportation
The past two years have exposed shippers and brokers to several myths about truckload transportation, to the point where even corner-office types know the term “tender rejection” probably means bad news.
In an article for Inbound Logistics, Dr. Chris Caplice of the MIT Freight Lab lays out six misconceptions about freight contracts that logistics managers can use to help their C-level executives understand the truckload market.
One of the biggest myths: carrier contracts ensure capacity.
“Truckload transportation contracts are unlike other business contracts in that they are binding in price, but not in shipment volume or carrier capacity,” Caplice said. “Reiterating the dynamic nature of transportation will help executives wrap their heads around this. Carriers face market conditions that impact truck availability, while shippers face supply chain challenges and sales pressures that impact shipment volumes. The contract does not guarantee capacity will be available exactly where and when they might need it.”
Starting next year, drayage trucks made with an engine-year model of 2009 and earlier will no longer be allowed into ports and railyards in California, part of the state’s goal to have a fully zero-emission drayage fleet by 2035.
The more pressing question is what the ban and other elements of the state’s Clean Fleet Rule will mean for drayage capacity in the near future, writes John Kingston at Freightwaves.
Under state guidelines, a drayage truck is an on-road vehicle more than 26,000 pounds that transgresses California’s seaports and railyards. All told, the rule will affect nearly 20,900 vehicle currently in service, or a 26% to 27% reduction in available capacity.
One thing that is not going to happen is a delay in the rules, Kingston reports.
