Owner-Operator

• OOIDA to offer business course for owner-operators

  

  Many small trucking businesses tend to fail within the first year of operating, so the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) trade group is launching a course designed to help those going through the change from a company driver to an owner-operator, or simply to help drivers have a more successful trucking business.

  The two-day “Truck to Success” class will run October 21-23 at the Courtyard by Marriott in Blue Springs, MO, as well as online via Zoom. Registration deadlines are October 1 to attend the in-person event or October 20 to dial in online.

  Participants will hear from trucking experts dedicated to helping drivers become successful business owners. The training is designed to follow a logical path along the transition from a company driver to an independent contractor to an owner-operator with their own authority.

  Topics will cover important points that will help drivers avoid failing as an owner-operator:

  • A Business Plan – What is it, why do you need one, and how will it make your life better;
  • Equipment – What truck is best for you – new or used?
  • Equipment financing – How to avoid getting screwed over when buying equipment;
  • Deciding whether to lease on to a carrier or get your own authority;
  • Taxes – Keeping as much as you can; and
  • Working with brokers successfully.

  In addition, the seminar covers issues that are requisite for success:

  • Insurance;
  • Passing the New Entrant Safety Audit;
  • Surviving a compliance review;
  • Meeting drug and alcohol testing requirements;
  • UCR, IRP, IFTA and more;
  • Should you incorporate, or be a sole proprietor;
  • Factoring; and
  • Current issues in trucking.

• The Logistics Matters podcast: Art Eldred of Vargo on the rise of AS/RS; Holiday shopping forecasts | Season 4 Episode 42

  For links and show notes, mouse over the player and click the .

  

  Transcript

  About this week's guest

  

  Art Eldred is vice president and growth officer at Vargo. He has over 20 years of supply chain expertise, specializing in e-commerce fulfillment solutions. He leads cross-functional teams, including consultants, mechanical, controls, and software engineers.

  Eldred’s early career with a startup electromechanical software company provided invaluable insights into highly successful software organizations. His extensive knowledge of material handling technologies, coupled with software integration, brings valuable experience to his role at Vargo.

  Eldred serves as an advisor to numerous supply chain C-level executives, offering insights on best practices, new technologies, and software integration. His designs are often recognized for their impact and have been featured in industry publications and conferences.

  David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity  00:01

  Automated storage takes hold. A forecast for holiday spending. And logistics supports our troops. Pull up a chair and join us as the editors of DC Velocity discuss these stories, as well as news and supply chain trends, on this week's Logistics Matters podcast.

  Hi, I'm Dave Maloney. I'm the group editorial director at DC Velocity. Welcome. 

  Logistics Matters is sponsored by Hyster Company, a global manufacturer with nearly a century of experience designing forklifts and high-capacity materials handling equipment used in the world’s most intense industries. Operations rely on Hyster as a strong partner for everything from choosing the right motive power source to their Edison Award-winning operator-assist solution, Hyster Reaction. For more information, visit hyster.com. That's H-Y-S-T-E-R dot com.

  As usual, our DC Velocity senior editors Ben Ames and Victoria Kickham will be along to provide their insights into the top stories of this week. But to begin today: Automation is increasingly an answer for distribution facilities that need to fulfill a growing number of orders, but can't find enough workers. Automated storage is one of the tried-and-true technologies that is finding even more applications in today's warehouses. To find out what's new with this technology. here's Victoria with today's guest.

  Victoria.

  Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity  01:30

  Thanks, Dave. Our guest today is Art Eldred, vice president and growth officer at systems integrator Vargo. Welcome, Art.

  Art Eldred, Vice President and Growth Officer, Vargo  01:39

  Welcome. Thank you. Thank you for having me.

  Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity  01:41

  Yeah, thanks for being here. So, I'll just start by saying — repeating a little bit of what Dave said, you know — demand for warehouse automation technology just continues to grow, and automated storage and retrieval systems, or AS/RS, are a huge part of that market. For listeners who may not be familiar with them, can you briefly describe what an AS/RS is and what it does?

  Art Eldred, Vice President and Growth Officer, Vargo  02:01

  Sure, I'll certainly try, anyway. You know, the terminology if you asked me that five years ago is a lot more narrow than it is today, but today, automatic, you know, ASRS stands for "automatic storage and retrieval systems," and they come in all different flavors and sizes. You know, the previous, or the legacy of that technology has really been cranes, or automatic machines that went in and out and extracted products and cartons from rack, brought it up to a front end, and kind of automated the pallet jacks and the forklifts of the world. And with the evolution of our fulfillment centers and the need for reducing labor or automating the labor processes, we've really taken that automatic storage retrieval systems and we've evolved it into goods-to-person picking and more into the carton-level and even piece-picking areas that are a little different. So, today, you know, I could go back and say, you know, there's 50, 60 companies that are doing some type of automatic storage retrieval for the industry, and of those, there's a legacy bunch that are doing the cranes and the shuttles that take cartons and they bring it from a conveyor into a storage location, they start at maybe 300 feet down an aisle, put it into a rack location, come back out with a carton that is needed for something else, and then they take another carton, they put it back into the rack. But with the evolution of fulfillment and technologies, we're now starting to see these form factors of the automation grow, and no longer are these big cranes with lots of heavy-duty motors and servos and sophisticated control systems, but we're starting to see these mobile robots take take hold where you can store and retrieve a shelving pod on a mobile robot that travels on the floor automatically, or you're even going to start to see these mobile robots automatically scale and climb into the rack, get a carton and put it back down onto the floor, and take it over to some type of operation that you're doing on the carton, where you're pulling an item out of it, or you're sending the carton into a shipping system. So, there's lots of different flavors and sizes of it, but the end goal, at the end of the day, is to automate the storage and retrieval of products and cartons so that humans are no longer walking to and from a location or traveling on some type of mobile equipment. So, I know it's a little lengthy answer, but, um...

  Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity  04:33

  No, that's great. That's great. Thank you. And my next question was just, you know, what are the primary benefits of this type of technology? You just mentioned a couple, but, you know, why would a company implement an AS/RS, you know, more specifically, any kind of, you know, bullet-point benefits they'd be looking at?

  Art Eldred, Vice President and Growth Officer, Vargo  04:49

  Yeah, yeah. There's really two big benefits that I see that we really look at. One is you're densifying the storage space. So, if you think about what you pay for warehousing just from us square footage perspective, you really would love to maximize the use of the cube inside the warehouse, meaning I don't want to just put a carton or a pallet on the floor; I usually have 20 feet above me, sometimes 30 or 40 feet above me, of storage space. And if you could store your cartons from the floor to the ceiling, you'd have an ideal usage of efficiency of your space. AS/RS systems really do that natively with their their systems, and it's a great thing because I'm now making use of all of that cube inside a warehouse, I'm requiring less square footages and less spaces that normally you would be putting on the floor. So, space is one, but the biggest, largest benefit that we're seeing is really in the travel time and the labor associated with travel. So again, if I'm on a forklift, I've got a mobile forklift that I've got to go buy or purchase or lease, I have to put a person on it, I have to train that person, I have to certify that person just to make sure it's not just somebody that says they can operate, but they can, obviously operate it safely, and I'm trying to remove that from the operation. The other side is just taking a person who goes to a location to perform an operation on it, like take the box out, pick three items, push the box back, and then go on to the next location. Well, if I don't have to keep walking all the way around the warehouses, then I'm reducing the amount of labor that's required or making them more efficient. And I will tell you, there are operations that you, we love about Apple, you can go back and look at some of your steps in a day, but you can see some folks in these pick modules that are going to and from pick locations. They're walking 10, 20, even 30 miles a day performing tasks to fulfill products. And if I have a robot or an AS/RS system doing that work for me, I've now reduced that to, I'm standing still and I'm working from a carton on the left and putting to a carton on the right and I'm in a workcell environment, again, being much more productive with the work I'm doing. So, at the end of the day, it's space and travel time are the two big things that I really go after when I'm looking at what the benefits are.

  Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity  07:09

  Those are some huge, I had no idea it was that much walking. That's not — I wanted to ask a little more more about the evolution of the technology. You mentioned that in the beginning. You know, typically we think of these as large, complex, and very expensive systems. You talked about the evolution of this a little earlier. You know, who are the prime adopters of this technology and how has it changed in recent years? Maybe a little more on that.

  Art Eldred, Vice President and Growth Officer, Vargo  07:30

  Yeah, Victoria, that's a that's a great question, because again, it's, this is part of this evolution, that's occurring. But, you know, I would say the evolution started with folks that can really afford and have the capital money to afford some of these systems, and, you know, 10 years ago, 15 years ago, these systems were not cheap. They were very, very heavy investments. You're talking tens of millions of dollars to get one of the typical AS/R systems even up and running just from a startup perspective, and they can grow up to 100 to 200 million, so you have to have a lot of capital to kind of get those started 10 years ago, 15 years ago. With the innovation of the industry, these mobile robots that are coming out, one of the greatest things about that is some of these things that were pretty far to reach in a capital or size for a lot of businesses are no longer — those barriers have been removed. And they've been removed because the robots are, you know, they have a lot of these new pricing models. One of them is RaaS, or "robot as a service," where you're you're paying a monthly fee for that robot either on a transaction basis, saying how many movements it's doing, or just to kind of a rental fee on those. But the key is that you're not outlaying all of the capital anymore. You're using that as part of your operational expenses, not a capital expense. So now the markets kind of really opened up to about anybody who has a fulfillment center of a little bit of volume and is looking to automate those processes. There are still minimum thresholds that make sense, and a lot of it is on the amount of movements that you're doing. In other words, you know, if I'm only going to pick location five times a day, it doesn't do a whole lot to go and buy a robot to do that, because the cost of the human doing it, or the time of the human, is not even a full day's worth of work. So, you're really looking at some minimum scale that you have to go after, but it's exciting where this technology is going and what it's doing to enable it to the folks that work, you know, smaller-scale and lesser-capital positions, so it is — there's a lot to it now.

  Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity  09:36

  Yeah, along those lines, what are some questions managers should ask when thinking about implementing one of these solutions? You know, you just mentioned you know, sort of the volume and things like that. What are some, you know, some high-end or top questions they should sort of consider?

  Art Eldred, Vice President and Growth Officer, Vargo  09:52

  Yeah, I would, I mean I would really start or recommend folks look at you know, automation is things that you know, are highly repeatable. Those are the things that you're very successful on. So, to be highly repeatable, you need to have a lot of continuity into that process. What I mean is, if I had 1,000 different types of cartons that I had in my operation, versus just two cartons that I had to deal with, the candidate to do automation on two cartons is a lot higher, or a lot more probable. When you have 1,000 different cartons in different sizes and shapes and conditions, you know, some of them get squashed and bowed and have different configurations, those are the things that I'm looking at on why I would want to automate or, or somebody who's look[ing] at it. The other thing is the old the old expression, "I'm from Missouri, the show-me state." I want to go see these things in operation. And you're trying to see them in operation with like businesses or like products that you are using in your current operation. And then the last thing I'll kind of tell you is, there's an explosion of automation and technology providers hitting the market. So, if you're going after these bleeding-edge technologies, and what I mean by that is something that's coming out of venture capital funding, and it's looking for its first install or second install, you really have to do your due diligence on the backing of that company. You have to look at the folks that are involved in that organization, make sure they're experienced, both from the robot or the automation side, but also the applied side, meaning that they have warehouse or fulfillment operational experience on their staff, and they're not just a PhD in robotics that's kind of trying to help automate your processes. So, I really look at a lot more of the experience to try and mitigate some of those risks associated with bleeding-edge technology. But, again, probably longevity and automation and repeatability, those are all the things that are important to me.

  Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity  11:48

  Great, thank you. Just to sort of wrap up here, you know, I hear quite often that although, you know, automation and technology are all the rage, as we've been discussing, there's still a large percentage of warehouses and distribution centers out there that aren't automated at all or use very little automation. I'm wondering, is that what you see? And kind of sum up what the market's like for these types of solutions we're talking about? 

  Art Eldred, Vice President and Growth Officer, Vargo  12:10

  Yes, yes, indeed, there are, you know, still, the lion's share of fulfillment and warehouse operations are not automated. It is not uncommon to walk into a warehouse and still see a paper pick sheet and a pen and pencil on someone's hand, that are kind of performing operations and taking things into a box to go fulfill to a customer or to a company that they're servicing. Again, it kind of comes back to some of the conversations upon how big is your operation, how much capital can you afford. And really, those operations are going to be great candidates for these newer technologies that are robot as a service and are much more flexible and scalable, and are kind of using price models that coincide with the operational aspects of it. In other words, if I'm going to spend $1 million on labor per year and I'm able to take 200,000 or 300,000 out and put it into the robot as a service and have the rest on my labor pool, you really didn't change any of your daily costs, or your unit costs going out the door, but you've kind of supplemented or mitigated some of the labor problems or woes that are out there.

  Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity  13:18

  Terrific. All right. Thanks very much for joining us. We really appreciate your insight.

  Art Eldred, Vice President and Growth Officer, Vargo  13:23

  I loved being here. Thank you. And again, we, this technology is pretty, pretty exciting to watch, and I think the future's pretty bright. Stay tuned for more and more of these coming out into the world. But thank you for having me. It was a pleasure getting on board.

  Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity  13:37

  Great. Sounds great. Thank you. We have been talking with Art Eldred of Vargo. Back to you, Dave.

  David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity  13:44

  Thank you Art and Victoria. Now let's take a look at some of the other supply chain news from the week. And Ben, you wrote this week about projections for holiday spending. Are consumers going to have a Merry Christmas, or will the Grinch roll this holiday?

  Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity  14:00

  That's a great question that's on all of our minds over here, and that's, you know, because as listeners to this podcast know, you know, we're all living through some turbulent economic times together. You know, you can mention diesel prices and interest rates and inflation. So, it was somewhat comforting this week when we heard a forecast that U.S. holiday spending in this coming winter peak season will rise slightly and reach a new high point compared to last year. And that came from the National Retail Federation, or NRF. And of course, you know that rise has been the general trend in these past 20 years or so, with the exception of some extraordinary events like the 2008 recession and credit crisis. But still, in these unpredictable times it's good to know that we're staying on track, and also the NRF pointed out that we're returning to prepandemic growth rates of about a 3 to 4% increase over last year's holiday spending. That's what their forecast calls for. And that's in comparison, of course, though, to huge jumps in these past couple years during pandemic. NRF pointed out that there were trillions of dollars of federal stimulus money, and that led to some huge levels of retail spending. There were leaps in terms of holiday spending of 9%, 12%, 5%, these past handful of years, so looking at this coming year, a 3 to 4% rise looks kind of slow and steady.

  David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity  15:30

  Yes, Ben, slow and steady expansion would be an improvement over the peaks and valleys that we saw during the pandemic. Did the NRF say what was driving that growth?

  Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity  15:41

  Well, the 3 to 4% growth is broad-based, of course, across the entire spectrum of holiday spending, but they did highlight three areas that caught my eye. First, one of the chief areas where shoppers will be looking for their deals is online. Not a big surprise. E-commerce has been in the headlines for years now. The forecast though, for online and other nonstore sales, as NRF describes them, is expected to increase between 7 and 9%, so, you know, two or three times the general amount. Second, an area with fast spending growth this coming holiday season is the service sector, NRF said. Jack Kleinhenz, who's NRF's chief economist, pointed out that for all that the consumer has been doing to keep the economy afloat, the composition of spending is trending, they're changing from goods to services, and that's also going to include holiday sales. So, it's going to be interesting, it'll be, instead of buying more items, you know, physical goods, a bit more — services is you know, concerts, movies, games, trips, that kind of thing. And third, we're seeing a change in how soon shoppers will start to hit those stores and/or, you know, hit the hit the movie theaters or hit the website. NRF did a another survey that showed that almost half — 43% — of holiday shoppers plan to start making those holiday purchases before November. So, looking at my calendar, I guess that means that I'm late already. So, in turn, actually the NRF pointed out that the earlier start could have an effect also on annual retail hiring trends. They pointed out that retailers across the nation will hire somewhere between 345,000, maybe 450,000 seasonal workers. That's about average. But some of that hiring may have been pulled into October to support that trend of shoppers getting out earlier to start their buying this year.

  David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity  17:42

  Yeah, it does seem to be earlier every year. And just a reminder, there's only about seven more weeks of shopping left, so start shopping now, Ben, 

  Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity  17:51

  I'll get on it. Thank you. 

  David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity  17:53

  And Victoria, you wrote about a new way that the trucking industry is honoring those who serve us all. Can you share the details? Victoria, how can truck drivers get involved in this effort?

  Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity  18:00

  Absolutely, yeah. So, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, or OOIDA, is launching its 17th annual Truckers For Troops campaign next week. This is a two-week fundraising effort that supports U.S. military personnel overseas and veterans here at home. The program runs from November 6 through November 20, and it also commemorates Veterans Day, which is coming up on November 11. A little background on all this: So OOIDA represents independent owner-operators and small truckers. The group launched Truckers For Troops in 2007 as a way to support service personnel that were stationed in combat zones, and they did that by sending care packages to troops around the world. Over the years the program has grown to support veterans facilities as well, including those assisting or housing wounded, disabled, or homeless service members. The group has raised thousands of dollars and supported thousands of military members and veterans over those past 17 years, and as I said earlier, they're looking to continue that support as we get ready to mark Veterans Day this year. Well, they can join the effort by making direct donations or via their OOIDA membership. During the two-week event, OOIDA will donate 10% of new-member registration fees or renewals to the program. Truckers can also make donations separate from the membership, and they can do that directly to the association, as I said, and the best way to get information on that is to visit the OOIDA website at OOIDA.com. I mentioned also the thousands raised to date in support of this effort, and I want to just be a little more specific. OOIDA and its members have raised more than $750,000 and sent more than 3,200 care packages to more than 32,000 military members. They've also sent aid packages to 65 facilities caring for those wounded, disabled, and homeless vets, and that includes an organization called Veterans Community Project, which is a group that provides housing and support to veterans in several states. There are links to all of this information in our story at DCVelocity.com. It was posted to our website today, so...

  David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity  20:13

  Yeah, those are some very worthwhile efforts and we applaud their work. Thanks, Victoria.

  Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity  20:18

  Absolutely. You're welcome.

  David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity  20:19

  We encourage listeners to go to DCVelocity.com for more on these and other supply chain stories, and also check out the podcast Notes section for some direct links to read more about the topics that we discussed today.

  Again, our thanks to Art Eldred of Vargo for being our guest. We welcome your comments on this topic and our other stories. You can email us at podcast@dcvelocity.com.

  We also encourage you to subscribe to Logistics Matters at your favorite podcast platform. Our new episodes are uploaded on Fridays.

  Speaking of subscribing, check out our sister podcast series Supply Chain in the Fast Lane, coproduced by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals and Supply Chain Quarterly. Search for "Supply Chain in the Fast Lane" wherever you get your podcasts.

  And a reminder that Logistics Matters is sponsored by Hyster. With strength, durability, and their continual focus on safety, Hyster is powering your possibilities. For more information, visit hyster.com.

  We'll be back again next week with another edition of Logistics Matters. Be sure to join us. Until then, have a great week.

  Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:

  • NRF holiday spending growth will return to pre-pandemic levels
  • OOIDA launches its 17th annual Truckers For Troops Campaign
  • OOIDA website(to join, renew, or make direct donations to Truckers For Troops)
  • Veterans Community Project
  • Visit Supply Chain Quarterly
  • Listen to CSCMP and Supply Chain Quarterly's Supply Chain in the Fast Lane podcast
  • Listen to Supply Chain Quarterly's Top 10 Supply Chain Threats podcast

  Go to main Logistics Matters archives page | 2022 archives | 2021 archives | 2020 archives

• OOIDA launches 17th Truckers for Troops campaign

  

  The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) is launching its 17th annual Truckers for Troops campaign, a two-week fundraising effort that supports U.S. military personnel overseas and veterans here at home, the association said this week. The program runs from November 6 through November 20, and commemorates Veterans Day, November 11.

  Truckers can join the effort by making direct donations or via OOIDA membership.

  OOIDA, which represents small-business truckers, launched Truckers for Troops in 2007 as a way to support service personnel stationed in combat zones, sending care packages to troops around the world. The program grew to also support veteran facilities, including those assisting or housing wounded, disabled, or homeless service members.

  To date, the organizition has raised more than $750,000 and sent more than 3,273 care packages, serving more than 32,276 military members. The group has also sent aid packages to 65 facilities caring for wounded, disabled, and homeless veterans, including the Veterans Community Project, a charitable organization that provides housing and support to veterans in several states.

  From November 6-20, OOIDA will donate 10% of each new member registration fee or membership renewal to the program, matching the percentage dollar-for-dollar. Truckers can also make separate donations to the program directly to OOIDA.

• Switching the hustle: interview with Aaron Smith

  

  We all make mistakes. What matters is what we learn from them and what we do moving forward with our lives.

  For those who have served time in prison, the stigma can last a long time, and that can make it hard for them to reacclimate upon release. It helps to have guidance from someone who’s been there and can help them start off on the right foot. Part of that is having a job that allows them to build a new life and not turn back to whatever landed them in prison in the first place.

  Aaron Smith has been there. After serving his time in prison, he founded a media company and program known as Escaping the Odds to provide others with practical assistance in life skills, job training, and an entrepreneurial path toward becoming truck owner-operators.

  Smith was recently a guest on DC Velocity’s “Logistics Matters” podcast, where he spoke with Senior Editor Victoria Kickham about his work. 

  Q: What is Escaping the Odds, and why did you start it?

  A: Escaping the Odds Media is a multimedia company based in Chicago. It initially started off with a podcast, as that was the quickest and most cost-efficient way to get [the word] out about what we wanted to do.

  I was formerly incarcerated, and I wanted to change the narrative and actually get stories out there from an unlikely source—men and women who had been incarcerated. I wanted to provide a platform where they could talk not just about their experience being incarcerated, but also about what led to their [fulfilling their] entrepreneurial dreams and being able to start businesses.

  That is where it started, and it eventually spiraled off into [the world of] trucking and transportation.

  Q: Your organization has a heavy focus on trucking, transportation, and logistics. How did you become interested in this field, and why do you continue to focus on supply chains?

  A: Back when I was going through adjudication of my criminal case, I had to get a job. I was on bond, and I started working for one of the largest 3PLs [third-party logistics service providers] in the country. So, I learned the trucking industry from a broker’s perspective. 

  Once I was released, I had to get a job, and since I had experience working in the dispatch brokerage arena, I figured that I would get a job doing that. But my end goal was to actually start my own transportation company and also offer opportunities for men and women—not just those who had been incarcerated, but really all men and women with an interest in the field—to help them get their start in the trucking or logistics industry. So that is what I have been doing.

  Q: On your website, you talk a lot about “switching the hustle,” going from what you were doing before you were incarcerated to a different career. Why is switching the hustle to logistics and transportation an attractive option for people looking to make a fresh start?

  A: Believe it or not, truck driving is one of the most popular positions for people—especially men—who have been incarcerated. There are two reasons for that: First and foremost, the money is somewhat comparable to the money they were making with illicit activities. The other big thing is freedom. You don’t have to go work for a trucking company—although you can, and you can make a nice living that way. You also have the option of being an owner/operator. Those are the reasons it is very appealing to this population.

  That is what I’ve been seeing with a lot of my colleagues and people that I was incarcerated with. They get released and get their commercial driver’s license [CDL] and they begin their journey, so to speak.

  Q: One of your primary offerings through Escaping the Odds is a class on starting a box truck business. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

  A: I partnered with a company called Stretch Finance, [which provides] banking services for formerly incarcerated people. They wanted to pivot a little bit and start offering courses [geared toward] this particular population of people who were formerly incarcerated or individuals who just wanted to do something different with their lives.

  I also partnered up with another gentleman, Ed Hennings, who had a trucking company [Go Time Trucking] that used box trucks, which you don’t have to have a commercial driver’s license to operate. We knew that there was a lot of freight out there that could move in box trucks, mainly last-mile delivery stuff. So, we created an “A to Z” course where we could teach people how to become a truck owner/operator without having to obtain a commercial driver’s license. Escaping the Odds Media is the producer of that concept.

  [Editor’s Note: Escaping the Odds now offers the box truck class via partnerships with correctional institutions.]

  Q: It can be costly to get a commercial driver’s license, right? So, since driving a box truck doesn’t require a CDL, this becomes a more affordable route into the trucking industry.

  A: Absolutely. It is also a program in which [the classes are offered] on-demand, so it is very flexible for the working person.

  Q: We write often about the need for truck drivers and for workers in general throughout logistics. Could you talk about why the broader industry should be paying attention to efforts like yours and about your ultimate goals for the program?

  A: The ultimate goal for Escaping the Odds within trucking is to be the conduit for men and women who have a desire to step into this new arena. It is more than just getting a job, right? There are a lot of things that a person who is reintegrating back into society may have to get adjusted to. We want to be that handoff to some of these companies and to continue training and partnering with more and more logistics companies. It is about bringing that credibility to what we’re doing.

  Q: Where can people who are interested in your work find you?

  A: The Escaping the Odds podcast can be found on Escapingtheodds.com or YouTube. We have another podcast that I am producing called “The Urban Trucker” that tells stories of people of all backgrounds, mainly women and men of color in the logistics industry. It is a great concept for something different.

  Listen to the interview.

• FMCSA’s Truck Leasing Task Force to hold first meeting in July

  

  A federal Truck Leasing Task Force (TLTF) is scheduled to hold its first meeting in July with the goal of ensuring that drivers have access to fair leasing agreements and monitoring the potential safety and financial impacts on owner-operators.

  Created as part of the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill, the TLTF will be a new body of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) within the U.S. Department of Transportation.

  FMCSA last month announced the nine members of the task force, which includes industry professionals from: labor organizations, motor carriers, consumer protection groups, owner-operators, attorneys, educators, and other related businesses.

  Representing the truck leasing sector on the TLTF will be Joshua Krause, chief operating officer of Foxpoint, the holding company for OTR Leasing, a tech-enabled specialty finance company that leases Class 8 Trucks. “I’m proud to serve on this important Truck Leasing Task Force and represent the truck leasing industry,” Krause said in a release. “I look forward to sharing business best practices that will have a lasting impact on the safety and financial wellbeing of owner-operators across our nation.”

  Additional members of the board include:

  • Tamara Brock, Brock Logistics, LLC and Lewis & Lewis Logistics, LLC (Independent Owner-Operator)
  • Paul Cullen, The Cullen Law Firm, PLLC (Attorney) 
  • Troy Hawkins, TTOH Consulting & Logistics, LLC (Independent Owner-Operator)
  • Jim Jefferson, Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (Consumer Protection)
  • Kaitlyn Long, International Brotherhood of Teamsters (Labor Organization) 
  • Steve Rush, Carbon Express Inc. (Carrier)
  • Lesley Tse, Of counsel to Getman, Sweeney & Dunn, PLLC (Attorney)
  • Steve Viscelli, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania (Economic Sociologist)

   

   

• Easing on down the road: interview with Melissa Williams

  

  Melissa Williams found her calling the day her company suggested she apply for a commercial driver’s license. Since then, she has made the road her workplace as an independent owner-operator. The freedom she gained driving for herself means that she can choose the routes she wants and visit the places she wants to go. Senior Editor Victoria Kickham recently talked with Williams about life on the road on DC Velocity’s “Logistics Matters” podcast. What follows are some excerpts from their conversation.

  Q: We write often about the need for truck drivers across the industry and the many efforts out there to recruit and retain people for the job. You are someone who has gone through that work transition to trucking. How long have you been a driver, and how did you get into the business?

  A: I classify myself as a rookie driver. I only have about three and a half years on my license. I was working at FedEx Express at the Minneapolis airport, and a truck driver position opened up. They asked me if I wanted to drive. My immediate response was “You do know I drive a Mini Cooper?”—and they laughed at me. I told them, “Sure, why not? Let’s give it a try.”

  How do you know what you love to do if you don’t try everything? Not only that, but if I don’t like it, it just adds to the list of skills that I can draw on in the future.

  Q: That makes a lot of sense. Fast forward to today—you are an independent owner-operator and you work over the road, which means you travel long distances and are away from home for long stretches. Can you talk a bit about your job today—how you book loads, how you run your business, and, more broadly, about the advantages of being an independent driver?

  A: Sure. I book my loads through the Vorto 5F OTR platform. Basically, I set up what day I want to leave, what city and state [I want to start from], and then I determine how long I want to be out. Do I want to be out a week, two weeks, or whatever? Then I put in where I want to end and on what date.

  Let’s say it’s a two-week trip. Basically, they start me out wherever I want to leave from and they bounce me to cities and states that match my preferences—places where I want to go. Then it is always the best-paying option from one place to the next and on to the next. That way it minimizes my amount of deadhead miles and the time I am sitting waiting between loads, so it maximizes my income.

  Q: That sounds like a distinct advantage of being your own boss. What else does this allow you to do in terms of the freedom to decide how you do your job?

  A: Well, I don’t have to go to any city or state that I don’t want to go to, that I am not comfortable going to. It allows me the opportunity to get out to North Carolina once or twice a month to see my grandfather, who’s 95, or my two younger sons—they’re 18 and 23—who live in Arizona. So I can go where I want to go when I want to go. If I want to stay there for a week and spend time, I can because: A) I am an owner-operator and B) they work with me so that I can have a life while enjoying what it is I do for a living.

  Q: When you were working at FedEx a few years ago and decided to enroll in a commercial driver’s license course, did you expect to enjoy the industry as much as it sounds like you do? Has this new career surprised you in any way?

  A: Yes. Initially, being a truck driver wasn’t on my radar even though my grandfather was a truck driver. At first, it was local work, and I quickly realized that local work wasn’t for me. I didn’t enjoy it. I figured if I’m going to work long hours in a truck, I want to go places. I want to see things. And that is the luxury of trucking: There are so many different types of work you can do in trucking that you can find what is best for you. 

  Q: On the flip side of that, what are the main challenges that truckers face today, and are there challenges specific to women drivers?

  A: Over-the-road trucking is not for everybody. You have to be comfortable being alone. You have to be comfortable being away from home. It is a very specific lifestyle, and if it’s not for you, then maybe drive local. That is a challenge that a lot of people end up facing.

  There are also concerns about safety for women for sure. You are in different cities and different states all the time. As women, we tend to be a little bit more cautious just because, well, we are women. 

  Q: I understand what you’re saying. Despite all of the challenges you mentioned, it sounds like you would recommend a career in trucking to women and, really, to anyone interested in the freedom that comes with over-the-road driving. What other advice would you give to people interested in pursuing a career in trucking?

  A:  I think trucking is great for anybody who has a passion or a desire to give it a try because there is so much diversity—flatbed, reefer, local, regional, over-the-road driving. There are a lot of options, but if you’re going to get into trucking, the number one thing that I tell people is know your limits, know your boundaries, and stand by them. Don’t let anyone push you around.

  Then if you’re going to go and become an owner-operator, my recommendation is obviously to start as a company driver first to figure out the industry. Figure out what area is going to work best for you, and then learn everything you can about the industry, about the truck that you’re driving or the type of truck that you want to buy, and surround yourself with the kind of people who are doing and being what it is that you want to do and be.

  Q: When you say “know your boundaries and don’t let anyone push you around,” do you mean in terms of doing the kind of work you want to do and going where you want to go?

  A: Correct. With the ELD [electronic logging device] limitations, there are a lot of times where you may be sitting at a dock for 10 hours waiting to get unloaded. A lot of times as a company driver, your company may tell you “Well, you just had a 10-hour break and now you have to drive.” But just because you were sitting at the dock for 10 hours doesn’t mean that you were sleeping or are rested enough to drive. So, know your physical limitations when it comes to sleep and stress. But also, if you are petrified to go to a particular city, don’t go. Your safety and your mental wellbeing are the most important things.

  Q: It’s important that we continue to raise awareness of the trucking profession. What do you think is the most important thing to mention in raising awareness about the importance of the job?

  A: Almost everything that you have or use has been on a truck at some point. People are more and more aware of that, but they don’t realize what we go through on a daily basis, a weekly basis, or a monthly basis in order to provide that service to the population.

  I also think it’s important that people be aware of the toll long-haul driving can take on a person. Sometimes we haven’t seen our family in a month or two months. A little bit of kindness in society overall goes a long way.

• OOIDA readies for Truckers for Troops campaign

  

  The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) is preparing to launch its 16th annual Truckers for Troops campaign, a fundraising effort that supports U.S. military servicemen and women serving in combat zones around the world. The campaign will be held November 7-14, in conjunction with Veteran’s Day, next Friday, November 11.

  An OOIDA tradition since 2007, Truckers for Troops raises money to send care packages to troops overseas and also supports veterans facilities across the country, including those assisting or housing wounded, disabled, or homeless service members. OOIDA has raised more than $729,000 and sent more than 3,200 care packages, supporting 39,252 members of the military, via Truckers for Troops over the past 15 years.

  The week-long fundraising effort will include daily broadcasts on OOIDA’s Land Line Nowsatellite radio show on Sirius XM 146. Truckers can tune in to help, or contact the association directly at 816-229-5791, according to OOIDA. For more information, visit the association’s dedicated web page.

• The Logistics Matters podcast: Dan Pellathy on new research on supply chain agility | Season 3 Episode 38

  For links and show notes, mouse over the player and click the .

  

  Transcript to come

  About this week's guest

  

  Dan Pellathy is an assistant professor at Grand Valley State University’s Seidman College of Business, where he teaches supply chain and operations management at the graduate and undergraduate level. Pellathy actively consults with companies across a broad range of issues related to supply chain agility, organizational alignment, supply chain risk, and end-to-end operational excellence. His research has been published in academic journals and featured in practitioner outlets as well as national news publications, including the Wall Street Journal. He holds a Ph.D. in supply chain management from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.

  Download the white paper on supply chain agility.

  Go to main Logistics Matters archives page | 2021 archives | 2020 archives

• Industry weighs impact of proposed independent contractor rule

  

  Stakeholders have 45 days to comment on a Biden administration independent contractor rule that could potentially reclassify millions of workers as employees. The rule was published in the Federal Register Thursday, with the comment period extending through Monday, November 28.

  The proposed rule, announced earlier this week, could affect workers in a range of industries, including trucking, which relies heavily on independent contractors. Industry experts say the move represents a step away from the independent contractor model and that employers should pay close attention to how the issue may affect their business.

  “I think [the proposed rule] is designed to lean toward eliminating independent contractor businesses under what [the current administration] considers to be the more noble goal of creating a protective employment environment,” said Greg Feary, president and managing partner at law firm Scopelitis, Gargin, Light, Hanson & Feary, a nationwide practice focused on the transportation industry.

  The DOL’s proposal would rescind the 2021 Independent Contractor Rule, a Trump-era policy that is viewed as favorable to classifying workers as independent contractors. The proposal would replace that rule with one that is viewed as more likely to classify workers as employees, according to Feary and others. The current policy uses a five-factor test for employers to determine whether a worker should be classified as an employee or an independent contractor, with two factors receiving greater weight: the nature and degree of the worker’s control over the work, and the worker’s opportunity for profit or loss based on personal initiative or investment. The new rule proposes a six-pronged test with factors weighed equally, essentially loosening classification guidelines and favoring employee status, experts say.

  Industry groups such as the American Trucking Associations (ATA), the national trade group representing the trucking industry, and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), which represents small businesses and professional truck drivers, are still reviewing the 184-page proposal, but expressed concerns this week over the government’s efforts to undo the existing rule.

  “ATA is reviewing the new proposed rule and looks forward to providing feedback to the Department, but we are disappointed this proposal seeks to undo the current rule which has brought needed clarity to the issue of independent contractor status,” ATA Vice President of Workforce Policy Nick Geale said in a statement.

  “We are just beginning to review this proposal, but any rule must recognize the owner-operator model if it is to be successful when applied to trucking,” added OOIDA President Todd Spencer, in a separate statement. “The administration’s stated desire to formulate a test that considers all aspects of a working relationship is promising, but we will carefully review every detail of their proposal and fight back against any provision that would unfairly stack the deck against true independent contractors.”

  The National Retail Federation (NRF) weighed in earlier this week as well, calling the proposal unwarranted, unnecessary, and likely to cause confusion and spur litigation.

  Feary echoed those concerns and said he expects the issue to linger into 2023.

  “I wouldn’t expect an actual rule until late spring, early summer of next year, [and we] may see litigation over this,” he said. “I think you’re not going to see anything other than some legal machinations through the end of this year and early next year, and then probably start to see the manifestation of this rule.”

  Timing and the political landscape will likely play a role as well.

  “If this hits in June of 2023 … and if the US DOL enforcement body is trained on it and ready to enforce it by the end of 2023, now you’re into 2024 and you may have a new administration,” Feary explained. “Because of the politics of it, it’s hard to predict the long-term ramifications.”

• The Logistics Matters podcast: Mark Ford of BlueGrace Logistics on small fleet volatility | Season 3 Episode 32

  For links and show notes, mouse over the player and click the .

  

  Transcript to come

  About this week's guest

  

  Mark Ford is chief capacity officer for BlueGrace Logistics, a third-party logistics provider headquartered in Tampa, Florida. In this role, he focuses on identifying, pursuing, and building carrier relationships and procurement opportunities, as well as overall capacity strategy, using in-house technology. 

  Ford joined BlueGrace in 2017 with over 20 years of experience and has since built and expanded upon the centralized carrier sales fulfillment arm, which supports multiple sales channels. He helped develop BlueGrace’s custom carrier file, which provides a platform that stores years’ worth of internal and external data and is designed to streamline the carrier search process to help identify and select the best truck.

  Prior to BlueGrace, Ford worked in numerous leadership positions at American Backhaulers, C.H. Robinson, Coyote Logistics, and Reliance Partners. Ford received his master’s in supply chain management from Michigan State University and continued to be a guest teacher and speaker for the University for more than six years.

  Go to main Logistics Matters archives page | 2021 archives | 2020 archives