A recent report by FreightWaves revealed the least productive cities for truckers. The cities mentioned in this list consume an unreasonably large portion of truckers’ daily time during loading and unloading.
The ELD data collected by FreightWaves is valuable in terms of highlighting the extended detention time issue — which limits the driving time and earning potential of commercial drivers.
According to FreightWaves, the data was collected from over 150 sources and represent $260 billion of freight.
Of all the areas that FreightWaves analyzed (and they only analyzed areas that fulfilled certain criteria), Washington D.C. was the least productive city for truckers with an average waiting time of 149 minutes. Central Chicago was at number two with 136 minutes of average waiting time.
Here is the complete list of locations, according to FreightWaves data:
Frieghtwaves told that a lot of people had been asking about its methodology for coming up with these results. The company in response to the queries revealed its approach and methods in an article. It wrote:
“We took ELD data records over a six month period that included 110,000 trucks (all class 8s). We eliminated trucks that only operated locally (i.e. always stayed within a 200-mile radius of its origin). Our data included thousands of individual carriers. No single carrier was the source of our data.”
In addition, they included the areas in squares of 14×14 miles throughout the US and Canada. To qualify, the squares must have a population of over 500,000 people. Cities with an average delay time of 90 minutes were counted in.
A few months ago, KeepTruckin, a leading ELD manufacturer also conducted a study and analyzed the impact extended detention time has on property-carrying drivers.
According to data analyzed by KeepTruckin, 75% drivers are detained at a pickup or drop off location for more than 2 hours every week. In addition, 35% drivers are detained for more than 6 hours. Consequently, drivers face 7 extended detentions every month, on average.
KeepTruckin also reveals that 81% drivers — facing detention for more than 2 hours — feel under pressure to make deliveries in the 14-hour time limit. As a result, drivers, on average, drive 3.5 mph faster after being detained for two or more hours.
Understanding drivers’ struggles, KeepTruckin launched a petition to extend the 14-hour time limit from 14 to 16 hours if drivers are detained by shippers or receivers for 2+ hours. Until now, the petition has earned 43,000+ signatures and have received public support from various trucking groups, including OOIDA.
If you support the HOS change, you can sign the petition here.
