The day on the road had already been painful. The overcrowded rest area only added to the frustration of Desi Wade, a truck driver, forced to maneuver for several minutes to park his truck in the only available space.
“There is no shortage of drivers, loose the fifty-year-old. It is the motivation that is no longer there. “
Lack of parking space is one of the biggest problems facing American truck drivers, who transport more than US $ 12 trillion in freight each year.
Truck drivers are at the heart of logistics problems this holiday season, albeit overshadowed by limited availability of certain products and skyrocketing prices. Executives in the trucking industry cite a nationwide shortage of drivers as the root of supply chain failures.
Desi Wade, head of a small fleet of trucks based in Atlanta, Georgia, lists the drivers’ concerns: a difficult work environment, insufficient pay and poor logistics management. There is an urgent need to make “wages and jobs attractive and profitable,” he said.
Especially since, in addition to the scarcity of parking and the volatility of fuel prices, drivers have to deal with stressful traffic conditions – bad American roads – and the inability to eat a healthy diet while traveling the road. country.
Perhaps the biggest challenge is the largely unpaid time spent waiting in ports and warehouses, which has worsened with the pandemic. “It’s a mentally and physically demanding profession,” continues Mr. Wade, also citing the remoteness of the family. “So who can be motivated to do this job? “
Disappointing Biden plan
Former army firefighter Desi Wade, whom AFP followed for two days through three states in the southeastern United States, is a clearly positive person. He smiles at the mention of trips with his children and grandchildren aboard his 18 wheeler.
This mission, a few days before Christmas, had nevertheless started under bad auspices: the truck had not started. Stuck in the mud, the tow cost him $ 450, a financial sinkhole.
During the trip, he also spoke of the measures taken by the Biden government to speed up the granting of commercial driver’s licenses and to recruit more women or former inmates as drivers in order to alleviate the labor shortage. .
Mr. Wade is skeptical that the $ 1.2 trillion infrastructure plan recently passed by Congress does not address the parking problem. As for the hiring of up to 3000 drivers aged 18 to 20, “it could really be dangerous”, he opines, doubting the “psychological maturity” of the candidates. He also stresses the need to tackle wages, as shipping companies compete with companies like DoorDash and Lyft.
However, road transport offers the opportunity “to change your life”, “to have a second chance”, he underlines, referring to his own experience.
After a rapid rise in the military, his career “came to a screeching halt” in 2011 with his arrest for receiving nearly $ 100,000 in bribes. He served 20 months in prison. But he quickly bounced back: in 2015, he was able to buy his first truck after setting up his business a year earlier.
Today, he plans to drive for another five years, while creating a cooperative with other truck drivers. He would like his children to work in the sector, provided they have an “exit strategy”: “You don’t stay behind the wheel forever” of your heavyweight.