Automation, dearth of drivers hot topics at trucker gathering

HOT SPRINGS — The irony surrounding the subjects of back-to-back presentations couldn’t have been lost on some 200 truckers and trucking company executives Thursday during the second day of the Arkansas Trucking Association’s annual meeting.

First, a panel of three trucking executives and a moderator talked about how a shortage of drivers continues to hamper the industry and how companies are addressing that. Second, an industry expert discussed the day when automated trucking and other “disruptive technologies” will replace drivers.

The convention opened Wednesday with an address by Chris Spear, president and chief executive officer of the American Trucking Association. It concludes today after further debate on the golf course of the Hot Springs Country Club.

Driverless trucks, especially among long-haulers and tractor-trailers in urban traffic, are still at least a decade away, Stephan Keese, a partner at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants in Chicago, said. “It will be 2028, likely later, before we get [driverless] 18-wheelers going through downtown Little Rock or Dallas,” he said.

While much of the hardware for the technology already exists, essential software still must be developed or improved, he said. Much also will depend

on regulators and on legislation, at both state and federal levels.

Another challenge, Keese said, will be security — preventing theft of loads and preventing the truck “from being used as a weapon.”

The future of the technology also will depend, to some extent, on society’s acceptance of it, he said, noting that recent accidents involving driverless cars could hamper development if such accidents continue.

Switching to the technology will be expensive, even cost-prohibitive for smaller trucking firms, Keese said. “So much investment will be needed, the industry will consolidate,” he said. He estimated that it will cost about $23,000 a truck for companies to install the driverless system and said pressure will mount to use those trucks 24 hours a day across the country.

Liability issues further cloud the technology, he said, as various parties will debate who’s responsible in an accident, whether it’s the trucking company, the software developer or others.

As for the more immediate challenge of finding drivers, representatives of three Arkansas trucking firms agreed the problem is nothing new. The three panelists were Malea McElyea, vice president of business development at Calark International, in Little Rock; James D. Reed, chief executive officer of USA Truck, based in Van Buren, and Al Heringer IV, vice president of the family-owned Star Transport LLC in Jonesboro.

All three said management has to be attuned to the needs and desires of their drivers. They said pay is always a concern among drivers, but drivers are getting more interested in consistent schedules and routes.

Heringer said the size of his firm, with only about a hundred trucks, allows him and other executives to stay in contact with drivers. “I have two or three calls a day from drivers,” he said. “It’s really fun to interact with them. It keeps us engaged. It keeps them engaged.”

Reed said he is working on getting his commercial driver’s license this year. “There’s a lot of wisdom in walking a mile in someone else’s shoes,” he said.

Reed said it costs about $100,000 to recruit and train a driver, making it more important that a company is able to retain them.

Turnover is high among first-time hires who are fresh off receiving their commercial driver’s license, he said, though he declined to give specific numbers because they’re private. “It’s just a hard job,” he said.

McElyea said Calark keeps fresh a list of drivers who have left the company. “A lot of times, we are able to get them back. Keep communications open.”