Have you thanked truck drivers lately for their hard work and dedication to one of the most demanding and essential jobs?
A perfect opportunity to do just that is National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, September 11-17, 2022.
A Volatile Environment Makes Trucking Challenging
For the past 20 years, Ever.Ag has been working with haulers and dairy businesses to assist in transporting milk safely and efficiently across the dairy supply chain. In that time, the Ever.Ag team has witnessed firsthand dairy truck drivers’ hard work and commitment to their jobs.
Hill Pratt, Ever.Ag’s Vice President of Transportation, has been working with milk haulers for over 20 years. He said in the wake of pandemic disruptions and overall challenges of hauling perishable commodities, dairy hauling businesses are prioritizing drivers’ requests for greater pay and benefits and providing predictable schedules.
“Without drivers, hauling businesses are dead in the water, so there’s a real shift to giving drivers what they want and rightfully deserve,” Pratt said.
Working Closely With Milk Haulers
Given the current volatility of the hauling industry, Ever.Ag works closely with both dairy shippers and haulers to gain efficiency by utilizing industry-leading technology solutions and getting rates to levels that reflect rising driver, equipment, and fuel cost.
Pratt said one innovative and effective strategy with dairy commodity haulers includes bundling similar lanes to offer haulers more consistency around volume.
“In some cases, we offer volume guarantees of a certain number of loads each day and ‘truck-not-used’ payments if those guarantees are not met. That way, haulers can still pay for idle drivers and equipment if the trucks are not needed.”
Dannah Vaughan, Ever.Ag’s Vice President of Customer Success, works with haulers during training. She realizes the complexities involved in transporting milk today, and because of this, her team strives to assist haulers in fully utilizing solutions to make their jobs easier.
“In a volatile environment, haulers want to get from point A to point B as efficiently as possible. We’re working with them directly to help make that happen.” Vaughan said.
Showing Appreciation to Haulers
Given the challenges they face every day, Pratt and Vaughan say they are continuously impressed with milk haulers’ work ethic, dedication, and outright toughness they maintain for their craft.
“As a team, we have a great sense of responsibility to listen to our customers and help however we can. Milk haulers and transportation professionals in general are an incredible group of people that deserve many thanks for transporting vital goods across our country.” Vaughan said.
