The state of trucking in the US and around the world was the topic of discussion at the ATA Management Conference & Exhibition in San Diego. They discussed how trucking was fairing on. Some of the issues talked about were driver shortage and the environment. They also talked about infrastructure and supply chain issues. The panel had people from the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Europe. The aim was to understand how trucking was in all these regions. They found out that they were all facing the same issues.

Driver Shortage

According to an article by Commercial Carrier Journal, driver shortage was one of the main issues talked about. The challenge has been around for quite a while now. There seems to be no long-term solution to the same yet. Canada's trucking industry is way smaller than the US It has a shortage of 28,000 drivers today. The numbers will rise to around 55,000 by 2024. The same is mainly because of drivers who will be retiring.

Ukraine, Turkey, and Pakistan are the most affected by the shortage of drivers. Most drivers, at the moment, work in Western countries. Ramon Madrano Ibarra pointed out that they have few female drivers. He pointed out that it is because the male drivers are not kept well. Truckers are working on improving the same. They are working on security and driver pay. Generally, they want to have better working conditions to attract and retain drivers.

The Supply Chain

When the pandemic hit, the supply chain was also hit hard. The same is slowly recovering with time. The question is how to improve it and sustain it up there. Obtaining trucks and parts has been the biggest problem. Derek Leathers noted some of the issues affecting the supply chain. He said that we often rush for new expensive projects to solve a problem. He pointed out that they should instead improve on the efficiency of the current processes before going for significant investments.

The Environment

The environment is one big part of trucking. Keeping it safe must be a priority for the truckers. Leathers noted that there is a lot of pressure to go green at the moment. He added that regulators had laid their ways of dealing with the same. He, however, said that the right way is not just imposing rules and laws. He said that there is no clearly set strategy. He said that there should be better ways to do this. He gave reduced excise duty on truck imports as one of the ways to help. The same will allow carriers to acquire the latest and safer truckers. He also noted that taxation on mileage would be a toll order and would instead stick with the fuel tax.

The infrastructure

Well-laid infrastructure is the future for trucking. Better roads and bridges are the key to bettering the economy. The countries must ensure that they improve on the same to enable easy movement of products. The same should apply evenly across borders. Providing such incentives will propel not only the truckers but the economy at large to proper heights.