Arthur Ashe was a great human being who played tennis. He was the first black tennis player who won the US Open, Wimbledon, and at one time was the number one ranked player in the world. His contribution to the world at at large was immense. He contracted HIV/AIDS from a blood transfusion. He became a living advocate to combat the disease. It was no longer “just” a gay disease. Suffice it to say that he was a wonderful man who contributed largely despite his short life of only 49 years.
I was a decent athlete who tried playing tennis as a teenager. We didn't have video games, and it was something to do while I wasn't playing other sports. Besides that, girls played tennis. I became a much better tennis player after listening to Mr. Ashe's observation. He said (I am paraphrasing) that most low level players would win more often if they concentrated on just putting the ball back in play instead of trying to make a winning shot. The low hanging fruit of amateur tennis is just to put the ball in play.
That philosophy will apply to the trucking industry as ELDs make HOS laws more enforceable. I was reading an article from a Global Logistics magazine. The article was telling its customers that they should adjust to the idea of the ELD before the mandate becomes effective. It went on to tell its subscribers to expect to pay higher rates. That is a good thing.
It is a belief in the industry, that rates will go up once the ELD mandate becomes effective. That's good. There is some truth to it. I think that the low hanging fruit is inefficiency. The industry “experts” tells us that it is running at about 95% of capacity. Want to make a trucker laugh? Tell them that the industry is running at 95% efficiency. Want to make them mad? Tell them while they are waiting at the dock to get loaded.
It is a given that many businesses are simply not large enough for drop and hook operations. Shippers
and receivers have not been charged for driver time. They act in their own self interest. That often for shippers means picking the order after the truck arrives. The load can then be loaded directly into the trailer. It saves the shipper about 30 minutes, but costs the driver at least an extra hour. That is being conservative. The same thing can happen at a consignee. Instead of just putting it on the dock and counting a load, they put it away while the driver waits.
It baffles me, how people can think that the industry is running at 95% efficiency when drivers sit and wait to be loaded. We will never approach 95% capacity until we equalize the system. That means paying drivers for all of their on duty time. Any expert who disagrees, merely thinks that they are an expert. Inefficiency is the low hanging fruit of trucking.