Longer waits to load and unload freight continue to vex truckers, especially women drivers less likely to complain about being kept waiting, according to new survey data from the American Transportation Research Institute.

Both the length and frequency of detention — the number of average minutes a truck spends inside a shipper or receiver location for unloading and loading — have increased over the last four years, ATRI reported Sept. 4. The analysis was based on more than 1,900 driver and motor carrier surveys conducted in 2014 and 2018.

Delays of two or more hours increased by 11.2% between 2014 and 2018, with delays of six or more hours rising 27.4%. -According to the from articlefreightwaves.com and its author Alan Adler

Women drivers wait longer

Women were disproportionately impacted, according to ATRI, the research arm of the American Trucking Associations (ATA).

Women were 83.3% more likely than men to be delayed six or more hours. ATRI said that had less to do with discrimination than with women driving refrigerated trucks, which were hung up longer in the queue than drivers of dry vans or flatbeds.

Another factor is that women are less likely to complain about longer waits than men. Adler also wrote in his article.

HOS challenges

Customer detention times impact productivity and eat into the maximum 11 hours behind the wheel a driver is allowed to operate within a 14-hour period under federal hours-of-service (HOS) rules.

The December 2017 electronic logging device (ELD) mandate led to more carriers charging from $50 to $100 an hour for detention time. But the average hourly charge of $63.71 was below the $66.65 average truck’s hourly operating expense, which includes 43% for driver pay and benefits.

Most drivers received 40% or more of the detention pay. But 20% of smaller carriers said they don’t charge for excessive delays so they can get more loads. That undercuts big carriers that do charge, ATRI said.

The ELD digital countdown clock caused nearly eight of 10 drivers to run out of driving time while detained at a customer facility, but fewer than two in 10 used the ELD data to show how long they were being delayed.- You can read in Adler’s article

Read the full story herefreightwaves.com

Source and credits: freightwaves.com / Alan Adler and, iTrucker  / Mario Pawlowski