[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Fblog\u002Fsupplychain-changed-forever":3,"_apollo:default":268},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"body":7,"date":254,"description":255,"extension":256,"img":257,"lastUpdated":258,"meta":259,"navigation":260,"path":261,"seo":262,"stem":263,"tags":264,"__hash__":267},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fsupplychain-changed-forever.md","The Supply Chain Has Changed and What This Means for CDL Drivers","John Daniels",{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":240},"minimark",[10,14,17,25,28,33,40,43,50,53,57,64,71,74,77,80,92,96,99,102,105,113,117,120,123,133,137,140,143,146,149,152,156,159,162,165,168,171,175,178,181,187,191,194,197,200,203,207,210,213,220,223,227,230,233],[11,12,13],"p",{},"The recent years have revealed just how fragile the global supply chain is. Backlogged ports, massive bottlenecks, and\noverloaded fulfillment centers are putting tremendous pressure on truck drivers.",[11,15,16],{},"Drivers are feeling the pressure to deliver faster, drive longer, and do it all cheaper than ever before.",[11,18,19,20,24],{},"This is a pivotal time for trucking - and what happens now will determine the future of how much truck drivers get paid,\nhow they're treated, and how often they get home. Finding a solution that will ",[21,22,23],"em",{},"empower"," drivers and repair the industry\nis more important now than it's ever been.",[11,26,27],{},"I’m here to break down what’s been happening in the global supply chain to give you a better understanding of how to\nnavigate the new challenges presented during these times.",[29,30,32],"h2",{"id":31},"next-day-delivery","Next day delivery",[11,34,35,36,39],{},"The convenience and ever increasing speed of eCommerce – being able to order something and get it delivered the next day\nhas ",[21,37,38],{},"obscured"," the complex global chain of labor behind it.",[11,41,42],{},"The reality behind that convenience is one of the most complicated feats of human coordination we've ever accomplished.",[11,44,45,46,49],{},"The pandemic, despite predictions by financial experts, caused people to buy ",[21,47,48],{},"more"," and left the world unable to keep\nup.",[11,51,52],{},"Expecting the global supply chain to miraculously recover while keeping up the same habits that made it burn out in the\nfirst place is going to prove challenging. Instead, we may need to radically challenge our habits and expectations.",[29,54,56],{"id":55},"bottlenecks-a-consequence-of-scale","Bottlenecks: A consequence of scale",[11,58,59,60,63],{},"To meet the demands of consumers and stay profitable, container ships have been getting larger and larger. One standard\ncontainer ship moving items from Asia across the pacific is as big as a ",[21,61,62],{},"skyscraper"," laid on its side. These massive\ncontainers may be more efficient at moving unfathomable amounts of cargo, but their size can also mean their downfall.",[11,65,66,67,70],{},"When something goes wrong - say a ship is delayed, or some other unforeseen problem arises like the 2021 Suez Canal\nObstruction - the consequences are ",[21,68,69],{},"huge",". Much larger than if something were to go wrong with just one “regular sized”\nship.",[11,72,73],{},"Delays result in massive inefficiency and rapidly accumulating financial loss - not to mention an inability to send\ncontainers back home (which drives up the price of all remaining containers and makes delivery).",[11,75,76],{},"The same potential for failure applies to the world's ports. California, for instance, is a port that has become bigger\nand bigger over the years. The port of LA represents 40% of all US imports, and 30% of US exports.",[11,78,79],{},"When the world's largest ports become centralized and massive, the world relies on them more. Inefficiencies, problems,\ndelays, backlogs, then too create huge consequences.",[11,81,82,83],{},"Ports are becoming increasingly monolithic - where a few ports are responsible for so much cargo, that when something\ngoes wrong… it goes seriously wrong. Maybe one of the approaches the US should take in the coming ten years with its\nhuge infrastructure bill is to invest into the creation and development of other viable port locations. One such idea is\nto\n",[84,85,91],"a",{"href":86,"rel":87,"target":90},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.keranews.org\u002Ftexas-news\u002F2022-02-14\u002Feconomists-hopeful-federal-infrastructure-bill-will-strengthen-texas-trade-relationship-with-mexico",[88,89],"noopener","noreferrer","_blank","develop the port of Texas and increase trade with Mexico.",[29,93,95],{"id":94},"the-problem-in-la","The problem in L.A.",[11,97,98],{},"Before productivity fell sharply, the port of LA processed 900,000 containers monthly. This was an unprecedented and\nlarge number compared to years prior, where the number of containers would rarely reach that level.",[11,100,101],{},"Additionally, containers that would previously take three days to process, now often take two weeks or more, leading to\nmassive cascades of inefficiency.",[11,103,104],{},"The port is operated by a bunch of unions and state agencies, making consensus between all groups very difficult.",[11,106,107,108],{},"Despite what some news outlets would have had you believe,\n",[84,109,112],{"href":110,"rel":111,"target":90},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.lanefinder.com\u002Fblog\u002Fsupply_chain2_blog\u002F",[88,89],"it isn’t a driver shortage issue.",[29,114,116],{"id":115},"why-keeping-ports-open-247-doesnt-work","Why keeping ports open 24\u002F7 doesn't work",[11,118,119],{},"Biden famously announced that in order to combat the backlog at California's ports, he would make them stay open 24\nhours a day. The problem with that line of thinking is that it doesn't take into account the entirety of the supply\nchain.",[11,121,122],{},"Let's say a port makes a container available for pickup at 3 am. A truck driver would have to agree to pick up that\nload, and then the distribution center would have to also agree to accept the load in the middle of the night. The LA\nport consequently demands that if a 24\u002F7 solution is to work, the rest of the US supply chain should follow suit.\nCurrently, that isn’t happening on a scale that would ensure the ports are actually productive 24\u002F7.",[11,124,125],{},[126,127],"img",{"alt":128,"height":129,"sizes":130,"src":131,"width":132},"Image 1",1080,"800px","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fimage1.jpg",1920,[29,134,136],{"id":135},"the-next-leg-of-the-journey-otr-drivers","The next leg of the journey - OTR drivers",[11,138,139],{},"When a shipping container loaded truck leaves the port of LA, it usually travels a relatively short way to one of the\nmajor distribution centers in the Inland Empire. From there, the rest of the journey is made on the back of a long haul\nClass A vehicle.",[11,141,142],{},"How long the OTR drivers have to sit and wait at this point is up to the efficiency at the distribution center.",[11,144,145],{},"This is very important to note - the productivity of the driver at this stage has nothing to do with their own\ninitiative. Because the ports are overloaded, and the fulfillment centers are overloaded, the drivers are likely to\nexperience longer and more inconvenient waiting times now than before.",[11,147,148],{},"Maybe there’s a way to hold the fulfillment centers liable for delay costs resulting in truck driver productivity loss\nat this rate. Without something to compensate for this lost time, drivers can find themselves unpaid and on the clock\nfor enough time to render their",[11,150,151],{},"Once the trailer is finally loaded, the OTR truck driver then proceeds to deliver the cargo to one of the many\nfulfillment centers across the country.",[29,153,155],{"id":154},"automation-at-fulfillment-centers-has-become-essential","Automation at fulfillment centers has become essential",[11,157,158],{},"These fulfillment centers are full of people doing hard physical labor. Because of its reliance on a healthy and active\nlabor force, the fulfillment industry is one that has struggled deeply as the result of the COVID consumerism spike.",[11,160,161],{},"In order to keep up with the promises of fast delivery, fulfillment centers find themselves having to rely on more and\nmore automation and robotics.",[11,163,164],{},"Automation at fulfillment centers often doubles productivity, and prepares those working there for the challenges of\nincreased consumer and delivery speed demands.",[11,166,167],{},"How the tech is implemented matters, as automation can be a double edged sword. It can relieve people of hard physical\nlabor, but it can also force them to be more productive to keep up with the pace set by the highly productive machines.",[11,169,170],{},"Implementing technologies have been shown to lead to more turnover and burnout. The turnover at Amazon fulfillment\ncenters has exceeded 150% according to federal labor data. In fact, so many people leave their jobs at Amazon\nwarehouses, that the company has started tracking turnover on a weekly basis - losing (and replacing) over 3% of its\nwarehouse workforce each week – that’s more than double the rate of competing companies and other warehouses.",[29,172,174],{"id":173},"cost-of-fulfillment-will-go-up","Cost of fulfillment WILL go up",[11,176,177],{},"Work at fulfillment centers is plentiful and workers have a lot of leverage. The fulfillment centers offering the\nhighest pay and the best benefits will win out in the end, and the rest will have to increase wages to stay competitive.",[11,179,180],{},"Increased wages at these centers will lead to higher costs for the consumer.",[11,182,183],{},[126,184],{"alt":185,"height":129,"sizes":130,"src":186,"width":132},"Image 2","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fimage2.jpg",[29,188,190],{"id":189},"last-mile-delivery","Last mile delivery",[11,192,193],{},"Jobs like UPS are known for delivering a highly professional and reliable service while ensuring its drivers and workers\nare paid well. Unfortunately, the stability and pay offered by UPS is incompatible with the demands for fast and cheap\ntransport.",[11,195,196],{},"Companies are turning to contract workers to limit their liability, drive down pay and reduce costs in other ways.\nAmazon drives most of these gig-based delivery services such as doordash, uber flex, and more. Drivers have to pay for\ntheir own gas, maintenance, and many other costs.",[11,198,199],{},"Amazon's market share in the last mile delivery (LMD) sector has recently overtaken Fedex, exceeding 20% of all LMD in\nthe country. With that growth has come a similar deregulation and deskilling seen in the long haul trucking industry.",[11,201,202],{},"With decreased wages and harsher working conditions, the LMD industry may face a similar shortage to long haul trucking.\nSpeaking of the driver shortage…",[29,204,206],{"id":205},"the-issue-with-the-driver-shortage","The issue with the driver shortage",[11,208,209],{},"It's not about a lack of interest or qualification. Many, many people have a CDL but are unwilling to do what the job\ntakes long-term. The truck driver shortage, then, is fundamentally a retention problem.",[11,211,212],{},"One of the main arguments for the drop in quality, pay, and working conditions over time is a deregulation of the\ntrucking industry. Steve Viscelli, author of The Big Rig, claims that truck drivers in the 60s and 70s would make some\nof the highest salaries amongst all blue collar workers. This was due to the industry being almost fully unionized. When\nyou got a great trucking job, you were likely to have stable and high paying employment for life. The industry was\nderegulated in 1980, and wages and working conditions fell.",[11,214,215,219],{},[216,217,218],"strong",{},"10,000,000 people in the US have CDLs, whereas only 3,500,000 are actively driving."," This should indicate the churn\nin the industry, and the true nature of the “driver shortage” problem.",[11,221,222],{},"If things continue at this rate, we’ll be looking at total paralysis of the trucking industry within 10 years. Aging\npopulation, unable to replace with new talent, increase in eCommerce and a much larger reliance on long haul trucking.\nThings have to change, and will - if the industry is to continue serving the needs of the future. This is, hopefully, a\nvery good thing.",[29,224,226],{"id":225},"the-time-to-change-the-trucking-industry-is-now","The time to change the trucking industry is now",[11,228,229],{},"You - the drivers of America - deserve to be treated like the competent, essential professionals you are. To get\nrewarded for the sacrifices you make. To get benefits, fair wages, and a work environment where your personal needs are\nrespected.",[11,231,232],{},"Your ability to find the jobs you want will not only decide the future of your career, but the future of the industry.\nYour ability to find the jobs you want, on your terms, will decide how companies act, what they pay, and how accountable\nthey are.",[11,234,235,236,239],{},"That's why Lanefinder exists. We deliver you the best jobs - ",[21,237,238],{},"real"," trucking jobs presented with trust and transparency.\nWe deliver a platform where companies are held accountable for their promises. We do this out of respect for you, your\nfuture, and the future of the industry. Years from now, we don't want to see an industry made up of replaceable steering\nwheel holders - We want to see an industry of respected, represented, and professional drivers.",{"title":241,"searchDepth":242,"depth":242,"links":243},"",2,[244,245,246,247,248,249,250,251,252,253],{"id":31,"depth":242,"text":32},{"id":55,"depth":242,"text":56},{"id":94,"depth":242,"text":95},{"id":115,"depth":242,"text":116},{"id":135,"depth":242,"text":136},{"id":154,"depth":242,"text":155},{"id":173,"depth":242,"text":174},{"id":189,"depth":242,"text":190},{"id":205,"depth":242,"text":206},{"id":225,"depth":242,"text":226},"2022-04-13","The recent years have revealed just how fragile the global supply chain is. Backlogged ports, massive bottlenecks, and overloaded fulfillment centers are putting tremendous pressure on truck drivers. Drivers are feeling the pressure to deliver faster, drive longer, and do it all cheaper than ever before. This is a pivotal time for trucking - and what happens now will determine the future of how much truck drivers get paid, how they’re treated, and how often they get home. Finding a solution that will empower drivers and repair the industry is more important now than it’s ever been.","md","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fsupplychain_changed_cover.jpg",null,{},true,"\u002Fblog\u002Fsupplychain-changed-forever",{"title":5,"description":255},"blog\u002Fsupplychain-changed-forever",[265,266],"trucking","blog","lK-g0YCJmBi1vFOqepnGsKV8GROtNTloJu3hRI1srSI",{}]