What Decisions Broke The American Trucking Industry
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Since our coverage on UPS and Teamster Union negotiation (UPS & Teamster Union Have Reached Tentative Agreement, Will UPS & Teamster Union Come To An Agreement Before August 1st?), some of our readers has raised much questions and discussions regarding the trucking industry. So allow me to share some of these videos, summarizing much of the history of trucking industry, below:
Truckers used to make $110K per year on average. Now many are homeless. So what happened? We dug into it as part of our new Class Room series, which looks at how jobs that used to provide a solid, middle class life now barely provide a living. With trucking, that story starts with deregulation. Big Box stores like Walmart were allowed to crush worker power and wages across an entire industry. Now there’s a perpetual trucker shortage as drivers get sick of low wages, long hours, and constant surveillance, in the video published on July 21, 2023, by More Perfect Union, as “I Used To Make $100K As A Trucker. Now I Make Minimum Wage.” below:
Clarissa Rankin, 36, brings in $144,000 a year as a professional truck driver hauling an array of goods from diapers to TVs to canned goods across the East Coast. She owns her trucking business, JC Rankins Transport, and also makes money documenting her trucker life on social media, where was able to make an additional $36,000 in 2021, in the video published on Nov 13, 2022, by CNBC Make It, as “I Bring In $144K A Year Driving Trucks | On The Job“, below:
Note: $144K mentioned in the video above is her gross, not net income. The net is much lower.
Once upon a time, truck driving was a blue-collar ticket to a solid, middle-class lifestyle in the United States. But today, the industry is plagued with low wages, long hours, and a high turnover rate. The story of how this change happened goes back over a century, but hinges on one particular moment in the late 20th century – and you may find the responsible person surprising, in the video published on Sep 27, 2022, by Cheddar, as “The Decision That Broke American Trucking – Cheddar Explains“, below:
Trucking is an especially fragmented industry, which makes it susceptible to continuous boom and bust cycles. While the pandemic wreaked havoc on several industries, trucking is no exception: the industry as a whole is experiencing a shortage of drivers, high turnover rates, and order delays, among a slew of other problems. With 40% of the global economy dependent on freight and logistics, the industry’s issues resonate across supply chains and through other dependent industries. Trucking is an $800 billion dollar industry that has proven too tough for one company to dominate. Low barriers to entry make it easy for aspirants to start companies, and competition is fierce. There are thousands of trucking companies in the United States, and the fragmentation of the market produces huge boom-and-bust cycles. Some companies have tried to consolidate or roll up smaller operations, but the industry is resistant to it. New technological developments, such as self-driving trucks, could spur consolidation by removing one factor that keeps the industry so competitive: drivers. That will not be easy — companies are still perfecting the technology, and the regulatory landscape would need to be changed to accommodate these vehicles, in the video published on Oct 31, 2021, by CNBC, as “Why The Trucking Industry Is So Fragmented And Chaotic“, below:
FreightWaves founder and CEO Craig Fuller discusses Yellow filing for bankruptcy after restructuring standoff with Teamsters union, in the video published on Aug 1, 2023, by Fox Business, as “Trucking industry has largely moved away from unions: Supply chain expert“, below:
Thousands of truckers are hanging up their keys and leaving the freight industry, in the video published on Aug 2, 2023, by FOX 26 Houston, as “Trucking industry troubles“, below:
Yellow is one of the oldest and biggest trucking companies in the U.S., but it collapsed in late July after years of ballooning debt and a standoff with the Teamsters union. The freight carrier company filed for bankruptcy after 99 years in business. But what events led to the freight company’s downfall? In the video published on Aug 7, 2023, by Wall Street Journal, as “Yellow: Inside American Trucking’s Largest Bankruptcy| WSJ What Went Wrong“, below:
Trucking companies lie to new truck drivers! Trucking companies will say anything to get new truck drivers in the door. We’re the best paying trucking company… We’re the best trucking company etc. Don’t fall for it and Stay Driven!, in the video published on March 3, 2021, by Driven Trucking, as “The BS Trucking Companies Tell New Truck Drivers | YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!” below:
Gathered, written, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker More about the community at www.WindermereSun.com
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