I'm A Twenty Year Truck Driver, I Will Tell You Why America's "Shipping Crisis" Will Not End

[swag]

https://medium.com/%40ryan79z28/im-a-twenty-year-truck-driver-i-will-tell-you-why-america-s-shipping-crisis-will-not-end-bbe0ebac6a91

I’m A Twenty Year Truck Driver, I Will Tell You Why America’s “Shipping Crisis” Will Not End
Ryan JOHNSON


I have a simple question for every ‘expert’ who thinks they understand the root causes of the shipping crisis:
Why is there only one crane for every 50–100 trucks at every port in America?

No ‘expert’ will answer this question.

I’m a Class A truck driver with experience in nearly every aspect of freight. My experience in the trucking industry of 20 years tells me that nothing is going to change in the shipping industry.

Let’s start with understanding some things about ports. Outside of dedicated port trucking companies, most trucking companies won’t touch shipping containers. There is a reason for that.

. . . more (worth a read)

https://medium.com/%40ryan79z28/im-a-twenty-year-truck-driver-i-will-tell-you-why-america-s-shipping-crisis-will-not-end-bbe0ebac6a91

[Hugh_Lebowski]

1. Working link for ya

https://medium.com/%40ryan79z28/im-a-twenty-year-truck-driver-i-will-tell-you-why-america-s-shipping-crisis-will-not-end-bbe0ebac6a91

[KT2000]

4. Thank you

[swag]

5. Thank you. Duly edited.

[Leghorn21]

2. Must read!! Sending around - thanks, swag - this is an unacceptable state of affairs grrrrrrr

Think of going to the port as going to WalMart on Black Friday, but imagine only ONE cashier for thousands of customers. Think about the lines. Except at a port, there are at least THREE lines to get a container in or out. The first line is the ‘in’ gate, where hundreds of trucks daily have to pass through 5–10 available gates. The second line is waiting to pick up your container. The third line is for waiting to get out. For each of these lines the wait time is a minimum of an hour, and I’ve waited up to 8 hours in the first line just to get into the port. Some ports are worse than others, but excessive wait times are not uncommon. It’s a rare day when a driver gets in and out in under two hours. By ‘rare day’, I mean maybe a handful of times a year. Ports don’t even begin to have enough workers to keep the ports fluid, and it doesn’t matter where you are, coastal or inland port, union or non-union port, it’s the same everywhere.

Furthermore, I’m fortunate enough to be a Teamster — a union driver — an employee paid by the hour. Most port drivers are ‘independent contractors’, leased onto a carrier who is paying them by the load. Whether their load takes two hours, fourteen hours, or three days to complete, they get paid the same, and they have to pay 90% of their truck operating expenses (the carrier might pay the other 10%, but usually less.) The rates paid to non-union drivers for shipping container transport are usually extremely low. In a majority of cases, these drivers don’t come close to my union wages. They pay for all their own repairs and fuel, and all truck related expenses. I honestly don’t understand how many of them can even afford to show up for work. There’s no guarantee of ANY wage (not even minimum wage), and in many cases, these drivers make far below minimum wage. In some cases they work 70 hour weeks and still end up owing money to their carrier.

[2naSalit]

8. He's absolutely correct.

It's been that way forever too. I retired, before this guy even got started, after 15 years of driving (almost everything, almost everywhere), I have been to and deliberately avoided the docks. I still had to go to them on occasion either picking up or delivering noncontainer freight and it was always a day long event if not longer. I've loaded fuel to tuna boats, that was gravy since I was on the clock and maybe had to run two loads from the pipeline; picked up bananas at Port Heuneme and hauling them to Montana where it took as much time at the port as it did to get them to Montana. I've also delivered individual cars to Long Beach and delivered food for the troops at the Alameda shipyard which was probably the worst on the planet. I don't think I ever dealt with shipyards on the Atlantic coast, lots of produce markets and airports, though.

But I digress... what this guy is describing is how it's been for decades, and its frailty has been exposed of late. The whole system is also a game for the mega-wealthy with no regard for the workforce or their well-being. As long as they workforce keeps showing up for work and buying stuff, the front office clan will stay rich.

Trucking can also be addictive for some and they will do it because they can't imagine anything else could make life worth living. Been there, managed to find a way out. It does explain why so many will work for nothing though.

[Leghorn21]

20. Many thanks for this great personal account of trucker life, 2

I had no idea, none, how rough life can be for truck drivers, nor how fragile the system running it is — wish 60 Minutes or whoever would showcase a panel of truck drivers nationally so the entire US of A would know even a little of what I’ve learned today -

Sad, really sad — thank you

[2naSalit]

22. You're welcome.

[Delmette2.0]

37. My son trucked for about 5 years and found his way out.

He moved back home with Mom. His wife moved in with her grandparents. They were 120 miles apart for 2 years while he got his associates degree in computer science (with honors). Just about every weekend he drove the 120 miles to spend time with her. It was well worth the effort for both families.

P.S. what about the crews of all those ships stuck and waiting to unload??

[2naSalit]

42. The ships' crews are really having a hard time...

Some have been stuck onboard for the whole 20+ months of this pandemic. Lots of mental health issues and monetary problems. Some can't get enough food. There was a radio article about it on NPR this past week. I looked for the link but I don't really remember which program had it.

Anyway, I went all in and enrolled in college within the year and lived on nothing for most of the time I slogged through to a master's. It was the hardest thing I ever did but it was probably the single best thing I ever did for myself. It was worth it.

[PatrickforB]

3. Maybe the time is coming when we here in 'Murika make some

changes in how we consume.

You know the one change that would do a lot of good? Get rid of the doctrine of shareholder primacy. Do that, and many problems will fall by the wayside. Not all, but many.

I'm talking about a stakeholder approach to corporate governance where the welfare of workers, consumers, the community and the environment are all held coequal with shareholder profits.

Couple that with some corporate tax reform that gets rid of stratospheric executive compensation and then we will have a better situation.

As long as we have this uniquely American brand of 'invisible hand' capitalism, we consumers, taxpayers and individuals will continue to get screwed.

You know why? Because right now, our policies hold profit to be more important than people. Until that changes, this will continue to be a cruel, expensive place to live.

[2naSalit]

9. +1

[OldBaldy1701E]

30. Hear Hear!

But, I would say the time has passed, to be honest. Not in the sense that we should not do it, but in the sense that we should have done it a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong time ago.

[KT2000]

6. I am seeing free markets

all over this mess. Let them explain this.

[Diamond_Dog]

7. Thank you

That was very interesting and informative.

[2naSalit]

10. K&R

[Girard442]

11. Not rocket science. Stop f---ing the workers.

They won't because they made a lot of money that way. They'd rather grind along in crisis mode for months and months.

[love_katz]

12. Huge kick and rec.

[rickyhall]

13. Shipping: However it's done, somebody always gets screwed.

[ShazzieB]

46. Not just somebody -- a WHOLE BUNCH of somebodies.

I lost track of all the people being screwed as described in that article, but it sounded like almost everybody except the actual shipping company owners:

Since they’re not paying the workers any more than they did last year or five years ago, the whole industry sits back and cashes in on the mess it created. In fact, the more things are backed up, the more every point of the supply chain cashes in. There is literally NO incentive to change, even if it means consumers have to do holiday shopping in July and pay triple for shipping.

This is where government regulation needs to come in. If the industry is this fucked up, has no incentive to get unfucked, and even gets to make more money off the fuckery as long as it stays fucked, there needs to some government intervention. Otherwise, like this article says, nothing will ever change.

[patphil]

14. Excellent article.

One good thing that could come from this is the creation of more manufacturing facilities in the United States to domestically produce more of the things we are now importing.
As shipping prices rise and delivery times get longer, it may become more viable to do that.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

15. Shipping system owners

Need to be forced to make changes or they wont because profit and greed

You know capitalism sucks and this situation shows why capitalism sucks.

You cannot let greed and theft "profit"run a country unless you like fragile hospitals fragile shipping chains etc. That fail the minute the resources are stretched.

Theyll keep cutting corners because profit and greed and have no shame or responsibility if they fail.

I cant wait until we decide we don't need a country dominated and run by greed..

[Hekate]

16. TY, & recommend people read it all. Fascinating, dystopian, nightmarish. Infrastructure, dammit.

Some here keep tut-tutting about American overconsumption, but excuse me all to hell, all my family’s prescription medications are being shipped in as we speak, because it’s cheaper to make them on the other side of the globe than it is to make them in the US.

That, too, is a big part of the problem. America doesn’t make its own necessities any more.

[2naSalit]

21. And much of that...

The overseas manufacture of everything that is, is because the industrial giants don't want to be responsible in how they obtain or refine resources. The US has strict environmental regulations, going offshore was the response because we let them off the hook. Our wages being low is also a result, they had a collective temper tantrum to punish us for wanting them to be responsible and pay their fair share so this is where we are now.

[Evolve Dammit]

17. The rich have slaves. May not look the same, but most people live paycheck to paycheck. They have

bankrolled billions and even a national strike would not be of much concern. They own you. It is not sustainable (for us).

[multigraincracker]

18. This....

[Lonestarblue]

19. Thank you--an excellent read.

And a good explanation of how lack of investment in infrastructure is turning the country into a backwards economy.

[peggysue2]

23. Well, that's sobering!

[GB_RN]

24. How Many Truckers Have We Lost To COVID...

Due to tRump and the ReichWing’s disinformation campaign?

[keithbvadu2]

25. 1+

[SheltieLover]

26. K&R!

[Tom Kitten]

27. Hi swag

Long time no see! I moved down here close to Long Beach a couple years ago and have seen all the ships sitting offshore. The ways the ports are laid out it's quite a bottleneck even in the best of times. Thanks for the article, I'll read it after I'm done watching the Ducks game on tv. I miss Oregon.

[swag]

43. Hi, Tom!

Wonderful to see you. I'm still in Portland. Probably move to Coos Bay in a year or two.

[IronLionZion]

28. Labor shortage should encourage employers to raise wages and benefits

Last edited Sat Oct 30, 2021, 07:21 PM - Edit history (1)

especially if they're jacking up prices for the goods they're selling. hmm...

[dlk]

29. Paging Secretary Buttigeig....

This situation requires major problem-solving attention!

[Delmette2.0]

35. +1. I totally agree.

[Marcuse]

39. A little of what will be called "Democratic Socialism" is in order. Truman seized the steel mills

for a couple of months until SCOTUS stopped him.

[dlk]

44. When enough Americans can't access enough goods, the ensuing crisis may bring about a solution

Until then, things will likely remain the same. I lived in Independence, Missouri for a brief time a long time ago and have always been a fan of “give ‘em hell” Harry.

[dalton99a]

45. +1

[Pepsidog]

31. Messed up country we have. Shippers get paid extra for the backlog. Great article. Thanks.

[usaf-vet]

32. //

[TeamProg]

33. Wow, I had no idea... n/t

[niyad]

34. Between the article about the containers at the ports posted here the other day,

and this depressingly informative read, I come to the conclusion that we are screwed. The will to address the situation, which will require money, is not there. The insane consumer society, the corporate greed, etc., etc., are not willing to make the needed changes, much less address a fundamental rethinking of our ways of life.

I have no idea how we actually fix all this.

[RussBLib]

36. rather difficult to understand

some much industry-specific nomenclature....

It's difficult for me to understand the situation he is describing.

I wish it was in plainer English.

[Ford_Prefect]

38. I'll lend another interpretation to the data and the experience listed above

Some of the powers that be want the chaos to continue. Some of them see this as another point where they can inject fear into daily life with minimal exposure for themselves.

If it were otherwise you'd hear GOP Congress and GOP Governors and GOP Mayors howling that the President must intervene to end this national emergency. You'd hear calls for nationalizing the whole thing or nationalized management of ports and transportation for critical goods and materials as they did during WWII. You'd hear of a need to coordinate the entire system as was done for certain war related materials and resources.

...AND you'd hear them howling about how BIDEN and the Democrats didn't act quickly enough to avoid this crisis. (Oops, we already have that one). Next we'll hear it's part of the Radical Liberal plot to attack and ruin Christmas. (We may have heard that one too?)


As much as this is a genuine structural problem of the excessively mercenary system of truck based shipping in America it is also one which is open to manipulation towards failure by those who practice cultural catastrophe as an exercise in further destabilizing our economy and our government.

[keithbvadu2]

40. Not enough drivers? Yet here we have many sitting, unpaid, waiting to work.

Not enough drivers?

Yet here we have many sitting, unpaid, waiting to work.

[SargeXXX]

41. Bring the factories back to America is the solution.

[LT Barclay]

47. This doesn't cover everything. I have some personal background on the issue also

When Clinton was president his Secretary of Transportation held "Marine Transportation System Regional Dialog Sessions" and I was tasked with organizing the one in LA/LB. There was and probably still is no direct connection between ship and rail. So everything is loaded on trucks and if leaving by rail is driven to a railyard and reloaded.
Industry doesn't want to invest and doesn't want "government interference".
Similarly, the east/west connection in Chicago requires unloading from one direction then truck transport to a railyard to finish shipment in the other direction.
Local governments would prefer road investment.
So the "invisible hand of the market" fails us again. A federal investment in rail would prevent this in the future.

[3Hotdogs]

48. And then there the paperwork, paperwork about your hours of service, paperwork for your truck,

random drug tests to interrupt your day.... Oh, and did you know that a traffic ticket gets a CDL driver double points?

[traitorsgalore]

49. But I MUST HAVE cheap poisonous Chinese crap with 4 easy payments from QVC!

What's on those carriers?

[The Mouth]

50. Wow. Excellent

Thanks