I was having a conversation recently with some industry players and the subject of driver shortages came up. The suggestion was made that the role of truck driver was not respected even though they earn around the same as many graduates with around 10 years’ experience.
This resonated with me but its not just drivers but the whole road freight industry that suffers from this poor image. As far as the public is concerned trucks are a nuisance at best and a dangerous evil at worst and there is very little recognition of the correlation between goods on the shelves at the local shopping centre and the trucks that transport them whether it be line haul or the last mile, This lack of recognition of freight as an essential service does not extend to other modes of transport; air, sea or rail. In fact, rail is seen by many as a panacea and the only sustainable way that freight should be moved on land.
Why is the road freight industry seen as such a pariah while other freight modes are accepted, even lauded? Is it because road freight is the only freight transport mode that shares its infrastructure directly with the bulk of the travelling public? If this is the problem, what is the solution?
The best term for the approach I espouse is ‘positive engagement’. Doing what has always been done and ignoring other road users, just shutting up shop in terms of engagement with the critics or treating them like impediments to the task at hand will not improve the situation but, quite the opposite, is likely to make it worse. Improving the image of the road freight industry is not only the function of whichever trucking association you belong to but is the responsibility of every member of the industry.
As I said positive engagement is key and, to use a sporting analogy, playing defensively off the back foot limits options while, even when being defensive, playing off the front foot gives more options and even allows for some elegant attacking strokes.
What is meant by positive engagement? There are the obvious things like vehicles being well presented and continuously safe and compliant but these are just a start. The default attitude of operators and their staff, including drivers, must be to positively share the road with other traffic by being courteous, allowing other traffic to pass, not monstering the smaller vehicle in front and not passing the truck in front when arriving at a passing lane and taking the whole length of the lane to do it. These , however, are essentially defensive measures and need to be backed up industry wide by positive news stories. Stories like the success of moving more freight in less trips through positive legislation such as HPMV and 50MAX, the world wide advances in technology such as reduced emissions and CO2, making road freight more sustainable and with EBS, lane departure warning and autonomous braking, safer.
How much respect would be gained if people understood that a truck driver controls more technology than the first guys who landed on the moon?