The First Annual Truck Driver Social Media Convention
Posted by Chuck Melton on Thu, May 26, 2011 @ 11:24 AM
The First Annual Truck Driver Social Media Convention will be held in Tunica, Mississippi on October 15th and I made my reservations this week. I am very intrigued at what Allen and Donna Smith of AskTheTrucker.com are attempting to organize by uniting drivers through social media.
Allen and Donna Smith of AskTheTrucker.com
A few months ago, after I wrote my first blog article on this subject, I went into Ben Keller’s office, our general manager at Melton Technologies, and said, “you know I think the biggest concern facing the trucking industry is this ‘perfect storm’ around truck drivers. The freight statistics point to a slow but steady recovery - increasing demand for drivers. Stricter regulatory and compliance requirements will more than likely shrink the available driver pool and to top that off the average age of a truck driver is in the 50s. At this point more drivers appear to be leaving the industry than entering. This is not rocket science.
A few weeks later, I saw that Paul Will, CEO of Celadon, used the same term - “perfect storm” to describe a crisis in industry capacity with a significant difference. Will, contends the perfect storm will happen almost immediately, within the next two years, due not only to the shrinking driver pool but to the lengthening average age of the US Truck Fleet, which he puts at an average of 6.7 years.
Mr Will is certainly closer to the situation than I am and his observations make sense to me. He makes the case that the rapid increase in diesel fuel over the last year has led to a cash crunch - forcing smaller carriers to use their credit on operating capital rather than replacing trucks which has exacerbated the problem of aging trucks.
Nevertheless, the most serious ongoing problem over the next twenty years for the trucking industry is the lack of good qualified drivers. One of the best ways, that we, as technology providers, can serve the industry is to focus on the needs and concerns of the driver and to get that into the public forum and into the technology we provide. The most successful carriers will be those who are listening I assure you. Technology needs to be more “driver-centric”.
That is why I am excited about what Allen and Donna and AskTheTrucker.com are attempting to do. They are creating a unified driver voice from social media to positively engage government, industry and the public - to act rather than react. They are providing a great service to the industry and to drivers and I look forward to seeing the fruits of their labor on October 15th.
