National Truck Driver Appreciation Week

Once again trucking companies across the nation will honor their drivers during National Truck Driver Appreciation Week (August 24th – 30th) through cookouts, letters of appreciation and gifts ranging from free T-shirts and flashlights to drawings for large screen HDTVs.

This week, as we honor the 3.5 million men and women that ‘Deliver America’, I would like to suggest that we need to have an appreciation of not only What Truck Drivers do but How they do it.  The demands, frustrations and skill sets of truck driving have changed tremendously over recent years.  Consider the following:

• Traffic Congestion - according to the ATRI, in 2004 congestion accounted for 243 million hours of lost productivity.  By 2025, congestion is expected to increase another 72%.
• Highway Speeds – adding to driver lost productivity (and frustration) is the Industry wide governor set backs that reduce average top speeds by 5 mph or more.
• Technology – today’s drivers are inundated with in-cab computers, programs, OBRs and mobile communications that require technical training and data collection activities unheard of 10 years ago.
• Fuel Conservation – MPG goals restrict where drivers fuel and eat, how often they have to stop for fuel, minimize opportunities to take the truck home and require idling performance that often make drivers feel guilty about keeping cab temperatures comfortable during overnights.
• Service – shippers require more exacting service than ever before due to lean practices and a demand for ‘just in time’ deliveries; requiring drivers to manage departure times, breaks and even off duty time to make inflexible delivery times.
• Driving Techniques – yes; now we’re even telling our drivers how to drive and monitoring their acceleration and braking habits in hopes of reducing fuel consumption.

I can’t think of any other occupation besides Truck Driver that has a national appreciation week but I also can’t think of any other occupation that places the level of demands and frustrations on their practitioners that trucking does on its drivers.