Wineries may face shortages of both trucks and truckers
Shereferredtowebinars focusedonhow to recruitwomen tobecome truckdrivers. “We have to figure out a whole different populationof people toattract to trucking,” Sams said. She said “Uberization” has come to the trucking industry, aswell,meaningadriver can lookat adriverboard toseewhat loads areavailable for them, pickupthe loadand deliver it.Whenit isdelivered, themoney is transferred into the driver’s account. Sams said Tesla is already testing driv- erless trucks. The federal government has not yet
decided how to regulate them. Among questions: Can they only be operated in driverless mode on the highway? Should driverless trucks be allowed at night? The price tag for a driverless truck is about $300,000,whichSams saidwouldbe a big impediment for those in agriculture, whowouldnot find it economicallyviable. In addition, she said driverless trucks are guidedbypaint on theground, something not found on rural roads. (Denni s Pol lock i s a repor t er in F r e s no . He ma y b e c on t a c t e d a t agcompollock@yahoo.com.)
ByDennis Pollock An army of truckers transports wine- grapes on California highways, about 7 millionmiles inaseasonand170,000 loads of them,whichmakes truckingakeypiece of the farm-to-winery picture. Du r i n g a S a n J o a q u i n Va l l e y WinegrowersAssociationwebinar,Yvonne Sams, senior director for California logis- ticswithG3Enterprises inModesto, tooka hard look atwhat the future couldhold for the trucking industry. She talked of the aging of truckers, a scarcityof people looking toget into truck- ing and the prospect for driverless trucks moving all those grapes. On peak days, she said, there can be as many as 3,100 loads that are hauled in the 16 weeks of harvest—and those truckers have the company of others transporting produce from25million acres of all farm- ing commodities totaling 131.1 million tons over 142millionmiles. Sams said that under new 2021 regula- tions, truck engines from2000 to 2004will be retired. “Those engines will leave the market andby2023, allolderengines through2009 will leave themarket,” she said, “and only 2010 and newer engines will be allowed on the road.” She saidmost of the older engines tend to be used in agriculture. Sams said she expects “aphysical short- age of trucks for our harvest.” Older engines can be operated if fitted with a particulate-matter filter, but Sams said older engines were not designed to havesuchfilters. Sheshowedaphotograph of a truck that burst into flames and was destroyedwithin 10minutes, because the filter caused the engine to run hotter. She said California’s rules on truck drivers’ “hours of service”—including the number of hours spent driving or off duty—are not as stringent as those set by the federal government. She saidelectron- ic logs fitted to engines monitor all hours and slow the engine to about 5 miles per hour whenmaximums are reached. She said it’s unclear whether California will adopt the federal guidelines. Another 2021 regulation results from Assembly Bill 5, which has to do with pri- vate contractors becoming employees. “Right now, from the trucking perspec- tive, this regulation is in litigation,” Sams said. “There is a hold on this regulation, thank goodness, and we’re working very closely with the California Trucking Association, which says over 70,000 driv- ers could lose their ability to contract and need to become employees.” She cited the “start-stop” nature of the grape supply chain and said one area of efficiency is the use of “drops”: dropping off trailers with the processor and leaving with the truck to pick up another trailer, rather thanwaiting. “It allows your vineyard to continue to process, it allows your truckers to contin- ue to move and allows your processor to continue amuch longer run,” Sams said.
She said the state’s drivers are aging, “and we don’t have this younger genera- tion coming in to replace drivers.” “That’s a challenge for us,” Sams said. “We’ve got to figure out how to make it a more attractivebusiness or figureout how to do something different, so the drivers wehave canmovemore loads in the same number of hours of service.”
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January 27, 2021 Ag Alert 11
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