Operations

Your Nov. 12 Pre-Trip: Driver shortage hits home for one company

Nov. 12, 2015

For one trucking company owner in Lancaster County, PA, the driver shortage is really hitting home, York Daily Record reports.

Cristina Commendatore

Here are five things worth knowing today: 1. It’s no secret – various trucking companies across the country are having a difficult time finding and retaining drivers. For one trucking company owner in Lancaster County, PA, the shortage is really hitting home, York Daily Record reports. Five or six of Jim Germak’s 40 trucks aren’t on the road because his company can’t find drivers. According to the report, to deal with the problem, Germak has raised driver pay, tweaked schedules so drivers get home more, and outfitted the company’s trucks to make them more “driver-friendly.” The Daily Record has more.2. On Wednesday, a winter storm closed a large part of Wyoming’s main shipping artery – Interstate 80 – according to the Wyoming Business Report. According to the report, cutting off the corridor could stall thousands of shipments from the nearly 6,000 truckers that haul goods across the state every day.3. Roughly one out of every nine bridges in the country needs significant work, according to a KHQ report. The report states that there are 68,842 structurally deficient bridges in the U.S. that cars, trucks and other vehicles travel over every day. Though engineers say the bridges are safe right now, the problem is expected to get worse. KHQ has more.4. Earlier this morning, a tractor-trailer hauling 97 cows from Florida to Oklahoma overturned on a North Texas highway, WFAA8 ABC reports. According to the report, the driver told police he lost control when he rounded the curve of the westbound side of highway 80. WFAA says the driver and another man inside the truck were fine, but they aren’t sure about the cows that were still in the overturned truck. Traffic was backed up in the area, and officials suggest drivers find another route.5. A Pennsylvania-based trucker has been charged with theft of mail, the Westmoreland Times reports. Steven Dubravski Sr., of Lattimer Mines, was employed by a trucking company and responsible for picking up and delivering mail for the U.S. Post Office. Allegedly, Dubravski stole cash and other items – totaling approximately $2,800 –from mail intended for delivery sometime between March 2013 and March 2014. According to the report, his employer fired him after hearing the allegations.

About the Author

Cristina Commendatore

Cristina Commendatore was previously the Editor-in-chief of FleetOwner magazine. She reported on the transportation industry since 2015, covering topics such as business operational challenges, driver and technician shortages, truck safety, and new vehicle technologies. She holds a master’s degree in journalism from Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut.