JOBopps0918

A TARGET MEDIA PARTNERS PUBLICATION
5400 Laurel Springs Pkwy Suite 703, Suwanee, GA 30024
CEO: Jim Sington
CFO: Bobby Ralston
Vice President: Ed Leader
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES:
Meg Larcinese
MegL@targetmediapartners.com
(678) 325-1025
Greg McClendon
GregMc@targetmediapartners.com
(678) 325-1023
Carol Trujillo
CarolT@targetmediapartners.com
(213) 221-9993
Sean Hayes
SeanH@htwoservices.com
(256) 405-4017
John Hicks
JohnH@targetmediapartners.com
(770) 418-9789
GENERAL MANAGER:
Megan Hicks
MeganH@targetmediapartners.com
SALES MANAGER:
Jerry Critser
JerryC@targetmediapartners.com
ART DIRECTOR:
Kelly Young
kelly.young@targetmediapartners.com
FEATURES
Class 8 Update..................................................................................... 8
Show Truck Pictorial......................................................................... 12
Owning The Wheel........................................................................... 18
Sudoku Puzzle.................................................................................... 22
ADVERTISERS
Admiral Merchants Motor Freight........19
Brisk................................................... 15, 24
Coal City Cob Company........................21
KL Breeden........................................ 16, 23
P.I. & I Motor Express...............................7
RTI.............................................................11
Schneider National, Inc........................ 4-5
Stageline......................................................9
Star Freight...........................................3, 17
UPS Freight................................................6

YOUR BUSINESS
OPTIONS KEEP
EXPANDING

YOUR BUSINESS
OPTIONS KEEP
EXPANDING
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schneiderowneroperators.com
800-28-LEASE

Are you an Owner Operator or Owner Operator Team? It’s time for you to begin
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• Practical mileage pay on ALL miles
• Full fuel surcharge
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Call Jill or Amanda
Teams always welcome!
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• Plate, permits, taxes (road & fuel) provided
• PrePass Plus
• Cargo & liability insurance
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Complete your owner operator application online at: upsfreightowneroperators.com
© 2018 United Parcel Service of America, Inc.

CLASS 8 UPDATE
BY KLINT LOWERY
A couple of
CLASS 8-RELATED
news items to note:
COSTS OF JOB-HOPPING: DRIVERS CAN FIND THEMSELVES GETTING NOWHERE FAST
You would think a professional truck driver
today would feel like it’s a week before the
homecoming dance and they’re the prettiest girl
in school. It’s getting so even if a driver isn’t a
perfect “10,” if they have a CDL and haven’t been
featured on “COPS” lately, they’re a hot ticket.
Capacity is tight these days, with the industry
already down by an estimated 70,000 drivers and
every projection indicating the driver shortage is
not only going to grow but accelerate. Carriers
are cast in the role of anxious suitors, competing
to turn drivers’ heads with offers of higher pay,
plenty of miles and more nights at home.
Of course, recruiting is one thing.
Retention is another matter
altogether. Job-hopping
has always been an
unfortunate reality
in the trucking
industry.
Jay Green,
vice president
of business
development at
People Element, a
company that works
with human resources
departments in various
industries, including
over 100 companies in
transportation, and Shelley
Mundy, director of recruiting
at Brown Trucking Company and former cochairman
of the Truckload Carriers Association’s
Recruitment & Retention Human Resources
Committee, discussed the costs of job-hopping
from a carriers’ perspective.
Being a buyer in a seller’s market can be
frustrating, and some carriers may have to
make adjustments in policies and attitudes to
overcome an environment that is ripe for jobhopping.
But as Green and Mundy explained,
even though drivers would appear to be in the
catbird seat these days, constantly leaping from
job to job can have some pitfalls for them they
may not be thinking about.
Everyone has those days when Johnny
Paycheck’s voice rings in their ears, egging them
on to, “Take this job and shove it.” And if you’re
sitting in that cab all day, sparks flying in your
mind from whatever ax you have to grind, it can
be tempting to sing along.
Got a beef with management, why not just
walk? You don’t have to put up with — whatever
your beef is. After all, companies are falling
all over each other to sign up drivers. Even if
you are relatively happy with your job, it’s
understandable in today’s market to be tempted
see what’s out there.
“Who doesn’t want to better their career?”
Green said. “We sort of measure our self-worth
on being in a better situation this year than we
were a year ago. Drivers always have their ears
on,” Green said. “They’re the most wanted
people in America.”
8 I Job Opportunities

CLASS 8 UPDATE
But he warns drivers, even though
switching jobs can be one of the quickest
ways to improve your income and other
aspects of your career, jumping ship every
time something goes wrong or someone rattles
a couple extra cents per mile may actually
cost them in the long run.
The first, obvious thing drivers need to
consider is that when you switch jobs there’s
going to be at least a slight gap in pay. One
gap may not hurt, but if it’s happening once or
twice a year, it will take a lot of miles to make
up for lost time, even at a higher rate.
Mundy added that before drivers jump at
that higher rate, they need to look at the whole
compensation package, starting with the health
care benefits the new company is offering. If the
new company’s health plan offers less coverage
and higher premiums and deductibles, it will cut
into that extra pay in a hurry.
And, with few exceptions, there will be a
gap in coverage, maybe a couple months’
worth, where everything would be out of
pocket.
“There are drivers who plan ahead and
they get a three-month supply of their
prescriptions,” Mundy said.
Thinking even further ahead, she said,
drivers, like all American workers for that
matter, need to consider what job-hopping
does to any retirement savings plan they
might have. A study by Fidelity Investments
found that in 2013 alone, American workers
forfeited $203 million cashing out or rolling
over 401(k) accounts or missing out on
employer contributions, either because of the
timing of the job-switch or because they didn’t
stay at the company long enough to reach the
employer contribution threshold.
“A certain percentage of drivers, it doesn’t
click with them, the value and the benefit
they’re getting in staying with that company
long-term from, say an IRA or a 401(k),”
Green said.
He and Mundy both commented that
many drivers don’t even start those kinds of
accounts.
In the long run, jumping from job to job,
especially impulsively, can cost drivers in a
way they can’t really measure, Mundy said,
and that’s spending too much of your career
at square one, always being “the new guy.”
In truck driving, another job is always just a
hop away. “Capacity is so tight,” Green said.
“Somebody will always hire a driver right now.”
But always looking for something better may
be what keeps you from finding that something
better. Driver shortage or not, the best carriers
can still afford to be picky because they’re on
everybody’s wish list, he said.
Mundy added that at her last job, work
history mattered, even with veteran drivers.
“We looked at the past 10 years of work
history, and if you had more than 14, you
weren’t considered for a job.
As much as drivers complain about carriers
that promise them the world and then fail
to deliver, it works the other way around,
too. Why should carriers take a chance on
someone with a history of bolting at the drop
of a hat?
“I’ve heard so many stories of, ‘hey, this
guy wanted this, so we gave him this. And
then he asked for that, and we gave him that.
And then two weeks later he quit,’” Green
said.
“Eventually, you’re just going to cancel
yourself out from carriers that want to hire,
other than work that nobody else wants to do.
You’re going to get stuck working routes you
don’t like. You’re going to get stuck working
the jobs that are harder. You’re going to get
stuck working for places that pay a little less.”
For drivers, job-hopping can become a selfperpetuating
pattern and mean a stop-and-go
career path full of frustrating detours and
dead ends.
10 I Job Opportunities

SHOW TRUCK PICTORIAL
& Beautiful
Billy Gibbs
2000 Kenworth W900L
Hampstead, MD
12 I Job Opportunities

Pictures taken at the Paul K. Young Truck Beauty Championship (PKY) @ MATS
Eric Turner
2015 Peterbilt 389
Ellenwood, GA
SHOW TRUCK PICTORIAL
Job Opportunities I 13

SHOW TRUCK PICTORIAL
& Beautiful
Edward
Harwell
1988 Freightliner FLT086
Cave Springs, AR
Curt Lalaone
2002 Peterbilt 379
Mt Pleasant, MI
Pictures taken at the Paul K. Young Truck Beauty Championship (PKY) @ MATS
14 I Job Opportunities

OWNING THE WHEEL
BY LYNDON FINNEY
CLASS 8 TRUCK ORDERS BACK UP AS
BOOMING FREIGHT ECONOMY COLLIDES
WITH FEWER PARTS WORKERS
If you need to order a new Class 8 tractor get
in line.
There are few others ahead of you —
150,000 to be exact.
That’s the word from Kenny Vieth, president
and senior analyst at ACT Research, who
says with the current build out rate, it would
take 7.8 months for your order to be delivered.
“We are hearing right now if you want to
order a truck today, you are looking at late first
quarter or even second quarter,” Vieth said,
noting that U.S. fleets are competing with Canadian
and Mexican fleets for tractors.
Build-out of tractors had decreased for three
consecutive months before a significant increase
in June, mainly because parts manufacturers
couldn’t find enough workers.
In March, 15,400 tractors were produced
by OEMs, 14,100 in April and 13,600 in May,
before the uptick that saw 19,200 in June.
“The OEMs had difficulty in April and May
getting fully produced units off the end of the
assembly line so there were a lot of units that
were red tagged in April and May,” Vieth said.
“They were coming off the assembly line, but
they had missing parts such as wiring harnesses
or interior cab components, and in one
instance we even heard windshields were a
problem.
What happened in June was the industry
started to see the supply chain do a better job
of getting components to OEMs who were able
to start finishing some incomplete trucks from
April and May, so they had more equipment to
sell.”
The demand for trucks will not likely
slacken, Vieth said, pointing to the healthy
U.S. economy, carrier profitability the recent
tax cuts.
“J.B. Hunt revealed a 7.1 percent profit
margin last week and Marten just announced it
had an all-time high profit margin in the second
quarter,” he said. “Between the tax cut and
the absolutely constrained capacity, spot rates
are going up. We had an aggregate 24 percent
combined dry van, reefer and flatbed spot
rate increase and contract rates are up almost
14 percent for the year exclusive of fuel surcharge.”
Despite the fact that the rate of growth in
freight may be slowing down, Vieth says trucking
is still in a very positive position.
“The industry is meaningfully capacity
constrained on drivers and the economy is doing
well,” he said. “So, barring some surprise
out of Washington or if trade wars become
a chess game and there are some disastrous
trade outcomes, the supply and demand should
remain in balance tilted in the truckers’ favor,
so the robust freight rate environment should
continue through he second half of 2018 at
least early 2019.”
That’s evidenced by ACT’s sale forecast —
316,000 Class 8 units in 2018 and 322,000 in
2019 compared with 252,000 sold in 2017.
18 I Job Opportunities

OWNING THE WHEEL
BY DEL WILLIAMS
As for June 2018 itself, the U.S. tractor retail
sales totaled 15,893 units, up 14.2 percent
from May and 29.7 percent from year-ago
June.
As for individual OEMs in June, Freightliner,
Volvo and Mack each posted significant
gains, according to WardsAuto.
Freightliner was up 26.8 percent with sales
of 7,672 compared with 6,050 in May; Peterbilt
was up 26.4 percent with sales of 3,328
compared with 2,632 in May; and Mack was
up 26.1 percent with sales of 2,026 compared
with 1,607 in May.
Volvo also posted the largest gain in June
compared with June a year prior with sales of
2,542 compared with 1,630 in June 2017, an
increase of 56 percent.
International posted a 45.7 year-over-year
gain with sales of 2,492 compared with 1,764
in June 2017.
WardsAuto reported sales-to-date in 2018
were 110,025 compared with 84,322 for the
first six months of 2017, an increase of 30.5
percent.
Freightliner continued to hold a solid grip
on market share leadership to date at 35.6
percent.
Peterbilt was next with 15.5 percent.
A sign that the need for Class 8 trucks is
still strong, ACT Research reported with North
American Class 8 orders in June cracked
40,000 units.
“North American Class 8 net orders continued
to materially outpace the industry’s
ability to sate demand, and June’s performance
is more impressive in that it is typically one
of the weakest months of the year for orders,”
Vieth said. “When seasonally adjusted, June’s
intake rises to 48,264 units. Seasonally adjusted,
we have to track back to March 2006
to find the only month in history that surpasses
June’s volume.”
20 I Job Opportunities

SUDOKU PUZZLE
Sudoku
How to play: You must complete the Sudoku puzzle so
that within each and every row, column and region, the
numbers one through nine are only written once.
There are 9 rows in a traditional Sudoku puzzle. Every
row must contain the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,
and 9. There may not be any duplicate numbers in any
row. In other words, there can not be any rows that are
identical
There are 9 columns in a traditional Sudoku puzzle.
Like the Sudoku rule for rows, every column must also
contain the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. Again,
Difficulty: Easy
there may not be any duplicate numbers in any column.
Each column will be unique as a result.
A region is a 3x3 box like the one shown to the left.
There are 9 regions in a traditional Sudoku puzzle.
Like the Sudoku requirements for rows and columns,
every region must also contain the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4,
5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. Duplicate numbers are not permitted
in any region. Each region will differ from the other
regions.
22 I Job Opportunities