Schneider National Closing Terminals

[chefdennis]

While it is not expediting, after hearing this on another board, i called Schneider National and talked to the marketing (yea i know but thats where i was tranfered since the PR person was out of the office) dept and they are closing their Atlanta,Toronto,and Reno,Nevada terminals. Their given reason was the inability to hire drivers.....I am waiting for the PR person to contact me to confirm this and to get any kind of press release.

There is an corp. info release for the phone people tpo give out when asked but not a press release at this time, it will be forth coming. Seems hard to believe that they can't find drivers..........

 

[OntarioVanMan]

While it is not expediting, after hearing this on another board, i called Schneider National and talked to the marketing (yea i know but thats where i was tranfered since the PR person was out of the office) dept and they are closing their Atlanta,Toronto,and Reno,Nevada terminals. Their given reason was the inability to hire drivers.....I am waiting for the PR person to contact me to confirm this and to get any kind of press release.

There is an corp. info release for the phone people tpo give out when asked but not a press release at this time, it will be forth coming. Seems hard to believe that they can't find drivers..........

Why is it so hard to believe? We were told years ago that there would be a severe driver shortage by 2010 or sooner....as the boomers of our age retire...there was an article actually many years ago 2-4 yrs about the projected shortage....it was in the millions....a couple a few thousand being laidoff will not fill the void...

example and just 1 state...

"Motor carriers are telling us every day that they have trucks parked up against the fence because of a lack of drivers," said Jim Tutton, vice president of Washington Trucking Associations, which represents 950 companies.

To keep up with demand, Tutton estimates, the state will need about 10,000 to 15,000 new drivers in the next five years.

But a trucker's life can be demanding and the pay isn't all that good, which is the main reason for the dearth of drivers.
Mirroring the U.S. population, the average age of truck drivers is rising, meaning more are retiring or nearing retirement. Plus, the government bans truck drivers from crossing state lines until they are 21, creating an impediment to recruiting drivers as they graduate high school. By the time they are 21, many workers have been trained in other occupations.

•Bottlenecks. More traffic on the nation's roads means it takes longer for a driver to get from one stop to another. That means more drivers are needed to haul existing demand. Additional port and border security following the Sept. 11 attacks has also contributed to longer trips.

Every 3% decline in trucking productivity requires an additional 60,000 trucks to haul the same amount of freight, estimates Bob Costello, chief economist at the American Trucking Associations.

 

[Scott101]

The shortage is probably their new -experienced drivers only- hiring model. I would guess not too many experienced guys are interested in jumping ship right now and all the newbies are quiting because of slow freight?

 

[chefdennis]

I agree we were told a few yrs ago that there would be a shortage of drivers, but that was before the fuel prices drove more the a few companies and O/O out of business in the last yr. Roadway/ yellow are laying off people, drivers, dock workers and mechanics all over the midwest, 160 people in toledo with 40 of them being drivers. I could be wrong, its not like i never have been, but I'd think alot of thise drivers would be looking for work....

 

[OntarioVanMan]

alot of the laidoff ones might be within 5 yrs or so of retirement anyhow....the ones 62 and older prolly said heck with it and took the early pay check

 

[chefdennis]

In that i originally posted this without any real proof, just from info from another board and I could not find a press release, as i said i made a few calls for to confirm it. I certainly didn't want anyne to accuse me of posting rumors, so here is the info that the Schneider National PR Dept sent to me:

Hi Dennis,



Per our discussion earlier today, here’s the Schneider statement regarding the changes announced today:





Schneider Logistics Statement:

Over the last two years, Schneider Logistics has been transforming its Transportation Management division to a non-asset based truckload, less-than-truckload and intermodal brokerage model. We have made strides in building this business; however the progress at our two recent start-up locations has not been at the pace we expected.



To reduce costs and provide competitive pricing to customers, we are closing our Toronto, Canada and Atlanta, Georgia Regional Logistics Centers as of Jan. 21, 2009. Approximately 40 associates will be affected by this decision. As always, we want to find as many roles as we can for our affected associates within the Schneider organization. We will also offer outplacement assistance for associates who cannot find new roles.



Customers who have been working with the Toronto and Atlanta teams will be reassigned to one of Schneider’s other Logistics Centers in Dallas, Tex., Chicago, Ill., Green Bay, Wis., Reno, Nev.



Schneider is an enduring company because we make proactive adjustments when necessary to prevail during challenging conditions. The market is sending significant signals to suggest that 2009 will be an extremely challenging year.



This is an unprecedented time in our industry, our economy and our world. We are grateful for the commitment, intensity and creativity our Toronto and Atlanta associates brought to their roles and will do everything in our power to assist in their transition to new roles or new opportunities.







Please let me know if you have any questions.



Thanks!

 

[Moot]

I have been in the trucking industry for 30 years. There has always been a "driver shortage"! One would think that with this ongoing driver shortage pay and freight rates would increase. Kinda a supply and demand type thing. Truth is there is a shortage of drivers willing to work for these large TL carriers for peanuts.

 

[MR.SNAPPY]

I have been in the trucking industry for 30 years. There has always been a "driver shortage"! One would think that with this ongoing driver shortage pay and freight rates would increase. Kinda a supply and demand type thing. Truth is there is a shortage of drivers willing to work for these large TL carriers for peanuts.

Sorry but with the recent recall on peanuts I will no longer be able to work for them...

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Schneider has a large terminal on the 401 in Cambridge..the one in TO the land is worth millions now...the company would do well to sell it off or if its leased to get out....besides the only one it really hits are lift drivers and managers

 

[Turtle]

There is a shortage of drivers now, and there has been for a long time now. Ever listen to trucker radio? All you hear on there driver wanted ads (and GCF ads). Ask pretty much any fleet owner how easy it is to find good, qualified drivers with a clean MVR and a clean drug test. And one that doesn't want to be home every weekend, or every night.

In totally unrelated news, I see MrsNappy has finally gotten her period. Er, his period. Mr. Snappy

 

[Moot]

No more Mrs. Nappy?

 

[nightcreacher]

schneider national has closed many terminals over the years

 

[lostandfound]

well for one thing Sni.pretty much quit taking students and closed there trainimg fac.down.They also was looking for more exp.drivers since Jevic there is a few others that went out of business due to the economy and fuel prices.I heard they was going to shutdown Green Bay training also.So if some one like Sni.is feeling the economy the u know pretty much just about every one is.On a side note the wife and i went to KCMO friday and let me tell u i did not see all that many trucks out,not like i did when we was expediting 1 yr.ago. and btw.only saw 1 Sni.the whole distance ..................just my 2 cents worth

 

[moose]

Ha , 6 months ago they slowed down their trucks to save on fuel .
now they found out that they need more drivers to deliver the same freight ,
Didn't see this one coming ?




Moose.

 

[jmore1276]

I have a solution. START PAYING DECENT WAGES AND BENEFITS and maybe their drivers will stay. They have one of the highest turnover rates in the industry. No-one wants to be away 2 to 3 weeks at a time for peanuts and a crappy benefits package. And we can see now what a 401k is worth. HAHA.

 

[x06col]

I have a solution. START PAYING DECENT WAGES AND BENEFITS and maybe their drivers will stay. They have one of the highest turnover rates in the industry. No-one wants to be away 2 to 3 weeks at a time for peanuts and a crappy benefits package. And we can see now what a 401k is worth. HAHA.

Well i'd say it's the same ole push-pull story. A living wage is one thing, even if it don't afford the toys as well as a living. But, going roast goose hunting without any investment or other comittment is not going to work very long. It appears to me that Carriers like schneider gave it the college try to create a win, win environment. I firmly believe the folks they were trying to win with jes wore them down with time an they jes threw their hands up. Don't blame em a bit. Ya can only tolerate so much abuse.

How long would y'all tolerate buying a 150K machine for someone to drive, then train them to operate that equipment and have them don't wanna on a regular basis. Take that times a couple, few thousand and ya got some real heartburn i'd imagine.

 

[jmore1276]

Well i'd say it's the same ole push-pull story. A living wage is one thing, even if it don't afford the toys as well as a living. But, going roast goose hunting without any investment or other comittment is not going to work very long. It appears to me that Carriers like schneider gave it the college try to create a win, win environment. I firmly believe the folks they were trying to win with jes wore them down with time an they jes threw their hands up. Don't blame em a bit. Ya can only tolerate so much abuse.

How long would y'all tolerate buying a 150K machine for someone to drive, then train them to operate that equipment and have them don't wanna on a regular basis. Take that times a couple, few thousand and ya got some real heartburn i'd imagine.

But there must be a reason why no-one wants to drive these 150k machines. Are other large carriers closing terminals, or just shneider? I'm not being sarcastic...I'm asking is it just Shneider or is this happening throughout the industry? Again though..as a previous writer said, they predicted a shortage in drivers 10 yrs. ago and said because of that the rates would go up to near 40 cents per mile for company drivers. Well, I don't think the rates are quite that high...yet.

 

[moose]

, they predicted a shortage in drivers 10 yrs..

one need to read between the lines ,
they did not really said that ,and did not had any research to support that statement,
it was a political statement ,made many times by the ATA ,trying to force cheap labor into our industry .




Moose.

 

[jmore1276]

one need to read between the lines ,
they did not really said that ,and did not had any research to support that statement,
it was a political statement ,made many times by the ATA ,trying to force cheap labor into our industry .




Moose.

Ah I got ya. The ol' "bait and switch". Make it sound sooo good. Yep I hear that. Actually it sounds familiar within expedite. LOL

 

[Moot]

Thank you Moose! As long as I have been in trucking there has been a "driver shortage." At times the shortage has been so severe that legislation has been proposed to allow 18 year olds and blind persons to drive interstate.

If this shortage of drivers should get any worse we may have to ship our freight to China, let them haul it around for awhile and then ship it back here. Single shipment rickshaw rates are at an all time low!