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Industry calls for passage of bill alleviating truck driver shortage

Federal DRIVE-Safe Act would help alleviate age restrictions on drivers

Russell Redman

June 19, 2018

3 Min Read
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Key stakeholders in food retailing, manufacturing and supply are urging congressional leaders to push ahead legislation to remedy the nation’s huge shortage of truck drivers.

This week, 42 trade associations — ranging from the grocery, restaurant and foodservice to the distribution and logistics sectors — sent a letter to Rep. Bill Shuster (R., Pa.), chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, to expedite passage of the DRIVE-Safe Act (H.R. 5358). Introduced in March by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R., Calif.), the bill aims to spur the development of young truck drivers and enable those younger than 21 to engage in interstate commerce.

In the letter, the trade groups stressed the urgency of the truck driver shortfall, which in the supermarket arena comes amid surging demand for fresh and prepared foods and booming e-commerce sales. According to a recent estimate, they said, 50,000 more drivers are needed now, and the shortage is projected to top 174,000 by 2026. 

“Seventy percent of the nation’s freight is carried by commercial trucks, yet as our economy strengthens, motor carriers are having difficulty finding the drivers they need to handle growing capacity,” reads the letter, whose signees include such supermarket industry organizations as the Food Marketing Institute, National Grocers Association, Associated Grocers of New England and the New Hampshire Grocers Association. “In many supply chains, companies are being forced to increase prices to account for higher transportation costs. This will ultimately result in higher prices for consumers on everything from electronics to food.”

At the center of the issue is a regulatory disconnect restricting the age of drivers crossing state lines, the trade associations noted. Forty-eight states permit drivers to get a commercial driver’s license at 18, but these drivers are prohibited from interstate driving until they’re 21. Under federal law, a 20-year-old truck driver couldn’t drive 14 miles from Springfield, Va., to Washington, D.C., but that driver would be permitted to haul a load from Arlington to Norfolk, Va. — a more than six-hour roundtrip drive.

“The truck driver shortage is slowing the movement of commerce in this country, raising consumer prices and wait times for goods. Nowhere is this threat more evident than in the foodservice distribution industry, which delivers food and supplies to the over 1 million professional kitchens across the country every day,” Mark Allen, president and chief executive officer of the International Foodservice Distributors Association (IFDA), said in a statement. “The DRIVE-Safe Act is a common-sense proposal that will open enormous opportunities for an emerging workforce and strengthen safety training programs.”

To alleviate the driver shortage, the DRIVE-Safe Act would establish a two-step training program designed to enable younger drivers to enter the trucking industry safely. Candidates would be accompanied in the cab by experienced drivers for 400 hours of on-duty time, including at least 240 hours of driving time.

In addition, trucks would be required to be equipped with the latest safety technology, including active braking collision mitigation systems, forward-facing event recording cameras, speed limiters set at 65 miles per hour or less, and automatic or automatic-manual transmissions.

“Costs for us in transportation now are higher than they have ever been,” Ann-Marie Daugherty, vice president of logistics for Pittsburgh-based Giant Eagle, said in a recent video posted by FMI, which asked supply chain executives what keeps them up at night. “There is a lot of focus on driver capacity and driver shortages across the country. What that translates to for us are higher costs to bring product in from suppliers to our warehouses and, additionally, finding and retaining drivers that work for us to make deliveries to our stores.”

About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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