What’s on Independent Truck Drivers’ Holiday Wish Lists for 2018?

About 350,000 registered truck owners/operators in the U.S. are an essential part of the vast army of over-the-road trucks responsible for moving freight across our nation’s highways every day.  These independent professional drivers are hardworking and committed to doing their job safely and efficiently. According to a survey of owner-operators conducted earlier this year, 41 percent of those surveyed spend at least 200 nights away from home and drive more than 100,000 miles per year. However, small independent owner/operators face challenges and barriers to entry not encountered by professional drivers employed by large shippers and 3PLs. So, in the spirit of the holiday season, here are a just a few items on independent owner/operator wish lists: Direct Access to Large Shippers. Smaller owner/operators, no matter how qualified, get scant attention from larger shippers, so they have to engage and bid on freight loads through brokers or sub-contract to larger carriers. The result is missed opportunities and lower profitability. Greater Transparency, Less Friction in Bidding and Load Acquisition. Enhancing visibility and improving these processes, whether with brokers or directly with shippers, would greatly enhance the revenue potential and profitability of independents. Fair and Prompt Payment. Owner drivers should not be subject to delayed compensation, nor should they have to use a factoring company to get paid more quickly, for jobs successfully completed, which is often the case based on many shippers’ standard terms. Simple, Easy to Use Mobile Technology. Onboard mobile technology can even the playing field for owner/operators, enabling them to compete on equal footing with shippers, brokers, 3PLs and large carriers. However, they likely don’t need or want complex, fleet-sized technology solutions.  Rather, they prefer more...