So much, but also so little, has changed.
Looking back on my 32 years in the trucking industry, there is a quote that I have heard attributed to the late iconic truckload operator Russ Gerdin, founder of Heartland Express. According to legend, he said that trucking is pretty simple; you just “haul the freight from point A to point B and collect the money." While many things have changed over the last 30 years, many things truly are the same.
We are still talking about solving the driver shortage 30 years later. Motor carriers still buy too many tractors and manufacturers build too many tractors in up cycles, which effectively ends the cycle. We are still arguing about how to raise money for the Highway Trust Fund to build and repair roads. While most of the discussion with shippers center around service, the lowest freight rate still usually wins the bid.
The quickest way to start a fight in trucking is to talk about size and weight regulations. Too many people are still trying to find a way to get around hours-of-service regulations. Truckstop chicken fried steak is still surprisingly pretty good. The list could go on, but you get the point.
The question now becomes what needs to change going forward to secure trucking’s future as a critical component of the nation’s economy? Other than navigating through a workable and effective environmental emissions strategy, we are going to need to make significant progress on highway safety. Recognizing that there are many factors related to highway safety that are not in our control, we need to make progress in those areas that we can control.
There are a lot of statistics on highway related fatalities out there. Comparing 2011 to 2022, all highway related deaths increased 31% from approximately 32,000 to 42,000 deaths, with about 10% of those involving large trucks. In comparison to other modes, the death rate for all highway accidents is 750 times higher than that of passenger airlines, and 15 to 20 times more than railroad deaths (note that there is a wide variety of data out there, but directionally these numbers are believed to be in the ballpark).
While many, if not most, large truck crash related deaths are not the fault of the large truck, there will come a point when society will no longer look the other way. Society will demand accountability for all highway safety across the board.
