Thank you to ICSA members who participated in the recent survey examining the differing motivating factors between employee drivers and owner/operators. The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) recently released its analysis of the survey results. ATRI’s Research Advisory Committee prioritized this analysis to better understand the role of OO/Independent Contractors in the trucking industry, and how legislative attempts to reclassify OO/IC as Company Drivers would impact those individuals and supply chains in general.
Over 2,000 professional truck drivers responded to the survey, of whom more than two-thirds are OO/IC. When survey participants were presented with identical factors that motivated their decision to be a Company Driver or OO/IC, Company Drivers indicated their top three motivators were Job Security/Stability, Income, and Healthcare/Retirement Savings. Among OO/IC, the top three motivating factors were Independence/Ability to Set Hours, Schedule/Flexibility, and Choice of Routes/Length of Haul.
The analysis also examined the various compensation models used with Company Drivers and OO/IC, as well as driver satisfaction levels with each. Both Company Drivers and OO/IC ranked Income as an important motivator and in terms of satisfaction, 68.9 percent of Company Drivers and 80.1 percent of OO/IC indicated being Very Satisfied/Satisfied with their income. Over 50 percent of OO/IC in ATRI’s dataset reported net incomes of over $75,000 in the previous year, while nearly 70 percent of Company Drivers indicated their annual wages fell in the $50,000 to $100,000 range. A large percentage of OO/IC expected they would experience significant decreases in their job satisfaction (73.0%) and annual income (68.3%) if they were reclassified as a Company Driver.
In addition to examining the differences between Company Drivers and OO/IC, ATRI’s analysis also offers insight into the different motivating factors for female truck drivers versus their male counterparts.
For a copy of the report, click on the link below:
https://truckingresearch.org/2021/12/01/owner-operators-independent-contractors-in-the-supply-chain/
Every year, TAT (formerly called Truckers Against Trafficking) honors a member of the trucking, bus or energy industry, whose direct actions help save or improve the lives of those exploited or prevent human trafficking from taking place, with the Harriet Tubman Award
Bob Costello has indicated that the freight market has improved – but very slowly – since January. It must be said that ATA’s indices are dominated by contract freight as opposed to spot rates.
Now, however, with Republican control of both houses of Congress and the White House (and, some say, the Supreme Court) I am optimistic that trucking will get a fairer shake than it has during Biden’s term in office.