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Truck driver

A truck driver (commonly referred to as a trucker, teamster or driver in the United States and Canada; a truckie in Australia and New Zealand;[1] an HGV driver in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the European Union, a lorry driver, or driver in the United Kingdom, Ireland, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Malaysia and Singapore) is a person who earns a living as the driver of a truck, which is commonly defined as a large goods vehicle (LGV) or heavy goods vehicle (HGV) (usually a semi truck, box truck, or dump truck).

For other uses, see Truck Driver (disambiguation).

Duties and functions[edit]

Truck drivers[2] provide an essential service to industrialized societies by transporting finished goods and raw materials over land, typically to and from manufacturing plants, retail, and distribution centers. Truck drivers are responsible for inspecting their vehicles for mechanical items or issues relating to safe operation. Others, such as driver/sales workers, are also responsible for sales, completing additional services such as cleaning, preparation, and entertaining (e.g. cooking, making hot drinks) and customer service. Truck drivers work closely with warehouse associates and warehouse workers who assist in loading and unloading shipments.[3]

(also known as O/Os, or "doublestuffs"[4]) are individuals who own the trucks they drive and can either lease their trucks by contract with a trucking company to haul freight for that company using their own trucks or haul loads for multiple companies and are self-employed independent contractors. Others also lease and make payments on trucks with the aim of purchasing them within two to five years.[5]

Owner-operators

Company drivers are employees of a particular trucking company who drive trucks provided by their employer.

[6]

Independent owner-operators are those with the authority to haul goods who often drive their own trucks, possibly owning a small fleet anywhere from one to ten, but occasionally as few as two or three.

[5]

There are three major types of truck driver employment:

Auto haulers transport cars on specially built trailers and require specific skills to load and operate specialized trailers.

Boat haulers move boats ranging in size from 10-foot-long (3.0 m) bass boats to full-size yachts up to 60 ft long (18 m) using specialized low boy trailers that can be set up for each size of boat. Boats wider than 8 feet 6 inches (2.59 m) or 13 feet 6 inches (4.11 m) require permits to move and are considered oversize loads.

Dry van drivers haul the majority of goods over highways in large trailers. Contents may be perishable or nonperishable goods.

Dry bulk pneumatic drivers haul bulk sand, salt, and cement, among other things. They have specialized trailers which enable them to use pressurized air to unload their products. Commonly known among truckers as Flow Boys.

Flatbed drivers haul an assortment of large bulky items, such as tanks, steel pipes, or lumber. Drivers require the ability to balance the load correctly.

LTL drivers (location-to-location) or "less than truck load" generally refers to localized delivery jobs where goods are delivered by the driver at multiple locations, sometimes involving the pulling of double- or triple-trailer combinations.

Reefer drivers haul refrigerated, temperature-sensitive, or frozen goods.

Local drivers work only within the limits of their local areas. These areas may include crossing state lines, but drivers usually return home daily.

Household goods drivers, or bedbuggers, haul personal effects for families moving from one home to another.

Owner-operators, owner-drivers, and company drivers can be in these categories:

A break of at least 30 minutes every 5.5 hours of work time

Maximum cumulative work time of 13 hours (plus 2x 30-minute breaks) in one cumulative work day before a 10-hour break is required, giving a total of 24 hours

After 70 hours of accumulated work a driver must have a break of at least 24 hours

Special licences[edit]

Australia[edit]

In Australia, heavy vehicle licenses are issued by the states but are a national standard. There are 5 classes of license required by drivers of heavy vehicles:

Truck regulations on size, weight, and route designations[edit]

U.S.[edit]

Truck drivers are responsible for checking the axle and gross weights of their vehicles, usually by being weighed at a truck stop scale. Truck weights are monitored for limit compliance by state authorities at weigh stations and by DOT officers with portable scales.


Commercial motor vehicles are subject to various state and federal laws regarding limitations on truck length (measured from bumper to bumper), width, and truck axle length (measured from axle to axle or fifth wheel to axle for trailers).


The relationship between axle weight and spacing, known as the Federal Bridge Gross Weight Formula, is designed to protect bridges.[36]


A standard 18-wheeler consists of three axle groups: a single front (steering) axle, the tandem (dual) drive axles, and the tandem trailer axles. Federal weight limits for NN traffic are:[37]

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) division of the US Department of Transportation (US DOT) regulates the length, width, and weight limits of CMVs used in interstate commerce.


Interstate commercial truck traffic is generally limited to a network of interstate freeways and state highways known as the National Network (NN). The National Network consists of (1) the Interstate Highway System and (2) highways, formerly classified as Primary System routes, capable of safely handling larger commercial motor vehicles, as certified by states to FHWA.[38]


State weight and length limits (which may be lesser or greater than federal limits) affect the only operation of the NN. There is no federal height limit, and states may set their own limits which range from 13 feet 6 inches to 14 feet.[39] As a result, the height of most tractor/trailers range between 13' and 15'. States considered to be in the eastern half of the United States use 13'6" as the maximum height. The boundary states are Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma (the only state west of the north/south line), Arkansas, and Louisiana. States west of these have maximum heights of 14', with the exception of Colorado and Nebraska, which have a maximum height of 14'6". Alaska has a maximum height of 15'.[40]


Uniquely, the State of Michigan has a gross vehicle weight limit of 164,000 pounds (74,000 kg), which is twice the U.S. federal limit. While it is contended that this is why Michigan has the worst roads in the country[41] (along with lack of funding—Michigan ranks lowest among the 50 states[A]), a measure to change the law was just defeated in the Michigan Senate.[44][45][46][47][48]

Truck driver problems (U.S.)[edit]

Unpaid work time[edit]

In the United States, there is a lot of unpaid time, usually at a shipper or receiver where the truck is idle awaiting loading or unloading. Prior to the 2010 HOS changes it was common for 4–8 hours to elapse during this evolution. CSA addressed this and incorporated legal methods for drivers and trucking companies to charge for this excessive time. For the most part, loading/unloading times have fallen into a window of 2–4 hours although longer times are still endured.

Turnover and driver shortage[edit]

In 2006, the U.S. trucking industry as a whole employed 3.4 million drivers.[49] A major problem for the long-haul trucking industry is that a large percentage of these drivers are aging, and are expected to retire. Very few new hires are expected in the near future, resulting in a driver shortage. Currently, within the long-haul sector, there is an estimated shortage of 20,000 drivers. That shortage is expected to increase to 63,000 by 2018.[50] Trucking (especially the long-haul sector) is also facing an image crisis due to the long working hours, long periods of time away from home, the dangerous nature of the work, the relatively low pay (compared to hours worked), and a "driver last" mentality that is common throughout the industry.


To help combat the shortage, trucking companies have lobbied Congress to reduce driver age limits, which they say will reduce a recruiting shortfall. Under current law, drivers need to be 21 to haul freight across state lines, which the industry wants to lower to 18 years old.[51]


Employee turnover within the long-haul trucking industry is notorious for being extremely high. In the 4th quarter of 2005, turnover within the largest carriers in the industry reached a record 136%,[52] meaning a carrier that employed 100 drivers would lose an average of 136 drivers each year. At the end of 2020, turnover for truck drivers in fleets with more than $30 million of annual revenue was 92%.[53]


There is a shortage of willing trained long distance truck drivers.[54]


Part of the reason for the shortage is the economic fallout from deregulation of the trucking industry. Michael H. Belzer is an internationally recognized expert on the trucking industry, especially the institutional and economic impact of deregulation.[55] He is an associate professor, in the economics department at Wayne State University. He is the author of Sweatshops on Wheels: Winners and Losers in Trucking Deregulation.[56] His major opus was critically well received. Low pay, bad working conditions and unsafe conditions have been a direct result of deregulation. "[This book] argues that trucking embodies the dark side of the new economy."[57] "Conditions are so poor and the pay system so unfair that long-haul companies compete with the fast-food industry for workers. Most long-haul carriers experience 100% annual driver turnover.[58] As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote: "The cabs of 18-wheelers have become the sweatshops of the new millennium, with some truckers toiling up to 95 hours per week for what amounts to barely more than the minimum wage. [This book] is eye-opening in its appraisal of what the trucking industry has become."[55]

Time off[edit]

Due to the nature of the job, most drivers stay out longer than 4 weeks at a time. A few for months on end and even longer. For the average large company driver in the United States 6 weeks is the average, with each week out garnering the driver one day off. This usually accrues to a set maximum of 6 or 7 days. This is the average for OTR (Over The Road) Line Haul and Regional drivers. Vocational and Local drivers are usually home every night or every other night. Most tractors are equipped with sleeper berths that range from 36" to as large as 86" in length. While there are larger sleepers that get up to 144" in length, these are not seen in the mainline segment of trucking. Those are usually seen in the specialized and household moving segments, where the load is either permitted for overweight or oversize or is very light yet bulky. [59]

Safety[edit]

From 1992–1995, truck drivers had a higher total number of fatalities than any other occupation, accounting for 12% of all work-related deaths.[60] By 2009, truck drivers accounted for 16.8% of transportation-related deaths.[61] In 2016 alone, 475,000 crashes involving large trucks were reported to the police: 0.8% were fatal and 22% resulted in injury.[62] Among crash fatalities generally, 11.8% involved at least one large truck or bus.[63] In 2016, property damages resulting from truck and bus crashes cost several billion dollars.[63]


Truck drivers are five times more likely to die in a work-related accident than the average worker.[64] Highway accidents accounted for a majority of truck driver deaths, most of them caused by confused drivers in passenger vehicles who are unfamiliar with large trucks.

Truck driver problems (U.K.)[edit]

Driver shortage[edit]

In 2014 the Road Haulage Association and Freight Transport Association (FTA) have called for the government to help address the shortage of qualified truck drivers in the UK.[87] According to the FTA, there was a shortage of 59,000 truck drivers.[88] The average age of a truck driver was noted to be at 57.[89]


During February 2016, an independent survey on the driver shortage was carried out by a UK freight exchange. The purpose of the survey was to get the drivers opinions about the HGV driver shortage. The aim was to establish whether the results of the driver's survey could help the industry and government understand the issues that the drivers are currently facing.[90]


The findings of the survey showed that, in the opinion of the drivers, the three main contributing factors to the driver shortage are 1) Poor wages, 2) Poor driver facilities and 3) The way drivers are treated. Over a third of all drivers who participated in the survey felt that they were not being treated well by the companies they drove for.[91]


The 2021 United Kingdom fuel supply crisis and the shortages of stocked food supplies within supermarkets and restaurants,[92] were attributed to the chronic shortage of HGV truck drivers and its associated factors of excessive hours, poor working conditions and unsustainably low wages.[93][94][95][96] In response to the HGV driver shortage crisis that accelerated due to lower migration (of immigrant truck drivers) resulting from Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.K. government initiated a temporary visa program to allow 5,000 foreign HGV truck drivers to work within the United Kingdom until Christmas.[97][98] Specifically for the fuel shortages, the U.K. government also readied 150 Army tank drivers to undergo specialised training (for 5 days) and be on standby, in preparation of driving fuel tankers and delivering fuel to fuel stations.[99]


Huw Merriman, a Conservative MP and chairman of the Transport Select Committee, said that while readying the army was a "good example" of ministers trying to use as many levers at their disposal as possible and would be used as a "last resort", Merriman lamented that told the long-standing driver shortages should be fixed by industry, instead of being reliant on constant government intervention to resolve market failure.[99]

Although heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers are legally limited to drive only for nine hours a day, drivers are routinely away from home for 12 to 15 hours a day, with unpredictable hours. Job advert from XPO stated:[100]


Despite the strenuous hours and the required self-funded driver qualifications (approximately £1,500), incomes of truck drivers have been slipping down the wage ladder. In 2010, the median HGV driver in the UK earned 51 per cent more per hour than the median supermarket cashier, in 2020 the premium was substantially reduced to 27 per cent. Truck drivers experienced a tighter pay squeeze from 2015 to 2021; median hourly pay for truck drivers rose 10 per cent to £11.80, instead of 16 per cent for all UK employees.[101]


Kieran Smith, chief executive of Driver Require, a recruitment agency, noted that employers have pushed labour costs down to compete for powerful customers such as supermarkets.[102]

National Safety Council

All Dark - Weigh Station Closed

Bandag band-aid - Retread tyre

Candy car– police car, usually with high-visibility police decals

Highway Patrol

Car park - carrier of cars

Chook Truck - Carter of live chickens

Clean Skin - Non recap tyre

Clear to Jolls - (M1 Motorway Hawksbury Hill North of the river) No police cars in the area from Top of the hill to Jolls Bridge

Clear to the river - (M1 Motorway Hawksbury Hill North of the river) No police cars in the area from Jolls Bridge to Hawksbury River

The Dipper - (M1 Motorway) Ku-Ring-Gai Chase Road Overpass Hill on the F3 Freeway

Dollar - 100 kilometres per hour (60 mph)

Evel Knievel– a police motorcycle

Flash for cash– (not to be confused with a manned radar gun)

speed camera

Hair dryer -hand held radar gun

Hot plate or Barbie – weigh station

Mail Box - Australia Post Truck

Double - Rego & Speed checking police car

Revenue Straight - Straight (M1 Motorway) Between Dog Trap Rd overpass & Peaks Ridge Turn off

The scalies or coneheads– inspectors who man checking/weigh stations

Transport Safety

Sesame Street - (Sydney to Melbourne)

Hume Highway

Tanker Wanker - Dry Cement, Flyash, Sugar, Flower ETC or Liquid Tanker Drivers

Turd herder - carrier of stock ()

animal freight

Tyregator - tyre stripped off the rim and usually left lying on the road

Convoy

Road transport

Semi-trailer

Truck stop

Trucking industry in the United States

Self-driving truck

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

- slideshow by NPR

"To Understand Truckers, Two Photographers Become Truckers"

Idling Compendium - Idling Ordinances Adopted Since September 2004 (Retrieved January 22, 2009), American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) PDF

Professional driver qualification in Europe (results of the European ProfDRV project)

Professional driver qualification with computer- and simulator-based training (ICT-DRV)