Heard you in the Oddlots podcast and really enjoyed it! I’m embarrassed to admit I had never thought about a lot of the issues with the trucking industry and how it so badly needs an overhaul to be more fair for drivers and create better opportunities in the industry. I look forward to learning more on your Substack!
Thanks for this, always good to know how things are different over there, and how they're the same. We got a similar kind of thing going on over this side of the pond. The "Road Haulage Association" and "Logistics UK" (previously the "Freight Transport Association". The switch to a more managerial name tell you all you need to know) really no nothing for drivers. It's interesting how truckers seem to have roughly the same complaints all over the World. Hmmm...
I'm still trying to think through the "driver shortage" issue, which, as I've said in one of my posts, is a problem around the World. I know that some trucking companies here genuinely struggle to find staff, and there are often vehicles sitting idle through lack of drivers. On the other hand, in a true free market, wages should rise and conditions improve to meet demand. There isn't a problem finding hedge-fund analysts or "diversity and inclusion officers", is there? We don't hear of supermarket shelves going empty because of a lack of diversity officers, do we...? The pay and conditions of these jobs attract people, it's dead simple.
The answer must be because we don't have a true free-market for our labour, and there must be a reason for that. I'm thinking it through, and will probably write an article about it at some point.
I'm not sure what the factors in the UK are, but there is definitely no free market for trucking labor here - the CDL Mill system, being largely a product of various levels of government subsidies, giveaways, or trapping the students in debt bondage, does not produce free market actors.
And it will only get worse, as there are now new rules here which stipulate you can no longer rock up to the DMV with a truck and do your Road Test after having been taught by your Uncle or learned the old way - you MUST go through one of these schools. Smells a bit funny, doesn't it?
Heard you in the Oddlots podcast and really enjoyed it! I’m embarrassed to admit I had never thought about a lot of the issues with the trucking industry and how it so badly needs an overhaul to be more fair for drivers and create better opportunities in the industry. I look forward to learning more on your Substack!
Thanks for this, always good to know how things are different over there, and how they're the same. We got a similar kind of thing going on over this side of the pond. The "Road Haulage Association" and "Logistics UK" (previously the "Freight Transport Association". The switch to a more managerial name tell you all you need to know) really no nothing for drivers. It's interesting how truckers seem to have roughly the same complaints all over the World. Hmmm...
I'm still trying to think through the "driver shortage" issue, which, as I've said in one of my posts, is a problem around the World. I know that some trucking companies here genuinely struggle to find staff, and there are often vehicles sitting idle through lack of drivers. On the other hand, in a true free market, wages should rise and conditions improve to meet demand. There isn't a problem finding hedge-fund analysts or "diversity and inclusion officers", is there? We don't hear of supermarket shelves going empty because of a lack of diversity officers, do we...? The pay and conditions of these jobs attract people, it's dead simple.
The answer must be because we don't have a true free-market for our labour, and there must be a reason for that. I'm thinking it through, and will probably write an article about it at some point.
I'm not sure what the factors in the UK are, but there is definitely no free market for trucking labor here - the CDL Mill system, being largely a product of various levels of government subsidies, giveaways, or trapping the students in debt bondage, does not produce free market actors.
And it will only get worse, as there are now new rules here which stipulate you can no longer rock up to the DMV with a truck and do your Road Test after having been taught by your Uncle or learned the old way - you MUST go through one of these schools. Smells a bit funny, doesn't it?
We don't have subsidised driver training, at least not yet. They've basically used immigration to drive wages down.
There's a lot of things that smell funny TBH. We're in a World awash with bullshit, and it's been that way for a long time. We're just so used to it.