Pay and Working Conditions
in the Long-Distance Truck
and Bus Industries

Assessing for Effects on Driver Safety
and Retention

_______

Committee for a Study of the Impacts of
Alternative Compensation Methods on Truck
Driver Retention and Safety Performance

Consensus and Advisory Studies Division

Transportation Research Board

Committee on National Statistics

Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences
and Education

Consensus Study Report

Transportation Research Board Special Report 355

Subscriber Categories: Freight transportation, safety and human factors, policy

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This study was sponsored by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-72385-5
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-72385-X
Digital Object Identifier: http://doi.org/10.17226/27892

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COMMITTEE FOR A STUDY OF THE IMPACTS OF ALTERNATIVE COMPENSATION METHODS ON TRUCK DRIVER RETENTION AND SAFETY PERFORMANCE

B. STARR McMULLEN (Chair), Oregon State University (emeritus)

YEMISI A. BOLUMOLE, University of Tennessee

STEPHEN V. BURKS, University of Minnesota Morris (emeritus)

ALICIA L. CARRIQUIRY (NAM), Iowa State University

FENG GUO, Virginia Polytechnical Institute and State University

BRENDA M. LANTZ, North Dakota State University

CAROLINE MAYS, Texas Department of Transportation

JASON W. MILLER, Michigan State University

CLINTON V. OSTER, JR., Indiana University (emeritus)

ALLEN L. SCHIRM, Mathematica Policy Research (retired)

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Staff

NOEL A. POPWELL, Study Director, Transportation Research Board

STEPHEN R. GODWIN, Scholar, Transportation Research Board

BRADFORD CHANEY, Senior Program Officer, Committee on National Statistics

THOMAS R. MENZIES, JR., Director, Consensus and Advisory Studies, Transportation Research Board

TIMOTHY B. MARFLAK, Program Coordinator, Transportation Research Board

Consultants

WALTER RYLEY, Bowling Green State University

STEVE VISCELLI, University of Pennsylvania

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Reviewers

This Consensus Study Report was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in making each published report as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets the institutional standards for quality, objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process.

We thank the following individuals for their review of this report:

MATTHEW CAMDEN, Virginia Tech Transportation Institute

JOEL GREENHOUSE, Carnegie Mellon University

RICHARD McARDLE, UPS Freight (retired)

JOSEPH SCHWIETERMAN, DePaul University

ROBERT SCOPATZ, VHB, Inc.

DYLAN SMALL, University of Pennsylvania

AARON SOJOURNER, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research

JOHN STOMPS, Total Transportation (retired)

ELLEN VOIE, Women In Trucking

Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or

recommendations of this report, nor did they see the final draft before its release. The review of this report was overseen by CHRIS HENDRICKSON (NAE), Carnegie Mellon University, and SUSAN HANSON (NAS), Clark University. They were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with the standards of the National Academies and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content rests entirely with the authoring committee and the National Academies.

Acknowledgments

The committee thanks the study sponsor, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMSCA), for attentive support throughout the study process. The FMCSA liaison for the study was Nicole Michel, who provided contract oversight and managed information requests from the committee. The committee was briefed by or received information from the following FMCSA officials: Robin M. Hutcheson, former Administrator; Thomas Keane, Associate Administrator for Research and Registration; William Mahorney, Acting Chief, Passenger Carrier Division; Charles Fromm, Deputy Chief Counsel; David Yessen, Division Chief for Compliance; Jonathan Mueller, Division Chief for Research; William Bannister, Division Chief for Analysis; and Olu Ajayi, Data Scientist.

The committee acknowledges the following individuals who contributed valuable information for the study in presentations and consultations during the many information-gathering sessions held in conjunction with committee meetings: Michael Belzer, Professor of Economics, Wayne State University; Robert Costello, Chief Economist, American Trucking Associations; Michael Davisson, Professional Staff Member, U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Amy DeBisschop, Director, Division of Regulations, Legislation and Interpretation, and Kristin Garcia, Chief of Staff, Wage and Hour Division, U.S. Department of Labor; Kerry Ferrell, Economist, Office of Compensation and Working Conditions, Bureau of Labor Statistics; Stuart Hochfelder, Douglas Smith, and Bryan Spoon, Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA); Ryan Kelly, Acting Automobile Finance Program Manager, Consumer Finance Protection Bureau; Thomas Moore, Executive Vice President, National

Private Trucking Council; Daniel Murray, Vice President, American Transportation Research Institute; Peter Pantuso, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), American Bus Association; Lee and Lisa Schmitt, Founding Council Members, CDL Drivers Unlimited; Joseph Schwieterman, Professor of Economics, DePaul University; Justin Swidler, Partner, Swartz-Swidler, LLC; Ellen Voie, former President and CEO, Women in Trucking Association; and Thomas Weakley, Director of Operations, OOIDA Foundation.

The committee thanks Todd Spencer, President, and Jay Grimes, Director of Federal Affairs, OOIDA. They coordinated the committee’s engagement with members of the OOIDA Board of Directors during their Spring 2023 meeting. Thanks also go to Tiffany Wlazlowski Neuman of the National Association of Truckstop Owners. She obtained the approvals of truck stop operators to host the study’s driver interviews.

Noel A. Popwell managed the study. He and Stephen R. Godwin assisted the committee in drafting the report with guidance and drafting assistance from Thomas R. Menzies, Jr. Bradford Chaney assisted the committee and contractors in the design of the truck driver interviews and with various other research and analytic tasks. Karen Febey managed the report review process. Timothy B. Marflak provided administrative and logistical support.

Steve Viscelli, Associate Professor of Practice, Lecturer, and Scholar, University of Pennsylvania, was commissioned to conduct the truck driver interviews, which are summarized in Appendix A. Walter Ryley, Assistant Professor, Bowling Green State University, prepared a commissioned report summarizing truck driver compensation and other rewards and benefits, the results of which are presented in Chapter 3.

Contents

PREFACE

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1 INTRODUCTION

Study Origins, Charge, and Approach

Report Organization

2 TYPES OF OPERATIONS, DRIVERS, AND REGULATIONS IN LONG-DISTANCE TRUCKING

Trucking Operations

Regulatory Environment

References

3 COMPENSATION METHODS, INCENTIVES, AND WORKING CONDITIONS IN LONG-DISTANCE TRUCKING

Driver Tasks in the Truckload Sector

Types of Driver-Carrier Relationships

Reasons for Piece-Rate Pay

Summary Points

References

4 DRIVER RETENTION AND TURNOVER IN LONG-DISTANCE TRUCKING

Retention at the Occupational and Carrier Levels

Sources of High Turnover

Assertions of Chronic Driver Shortages

Summary Points

Addendum

References

5 COMPENSATION, WORKING CONDITIONS, AND SAFE DRIVING IN LONG-DISTANCE TRUCKING

Conceptual Framework

Study Data and Methods

Driver-Level Studies

Carrier-Level Analysis

Summary Points

References

6 TYPES OF OPERATIONS, DRIVER COMPENSATION, AND SAFETY ISSUES IN THE INTERCITY BUS INDUSTRY

Overview of Intercity Bus Industry

Information on Bus Driver Compensation

Overview of Intercity Bus Safety Performance

Bus Driver Fatigue and Distraction

Issues Related to Early Curbside Service

Summary Points

References

7 KEY CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND IDEAS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

Key Conclusions

Recommendations

Ideas for Future Research

References

APPENDIXES

A LONG-DISTANCE TRUCK DRIVER INTERVIEWS

B ANALYSIS OF CARRIER-LEVEL SAFETY DATA

C STUDY COMMITTEE BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Preface

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA’s) primary responsibility is to ensure the safe operation of commercial motor vehicles, for both freight and passengers. Central to its mission is to issue and enforce safety rules for carriers and drivers in an industry that is extraordinarily complex and intensely competitive. Although it is not authorized to oversee and regulate driver compensation, FMCSA nevertheless has an interest in understanding the ways in which various factors, including the compensation and working conditions, may affect the safe operations of commercial motor vehicles on the public highways. Accordingly, Congress included a provision in Section 23022 of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law¹ directing FMCSA to enter into an agreement with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (the National Academies) to:

Conduct a study of the impacts of various methods of driver compensation on safety and driver retention, including (a) hourly pay; (b) payment for detention time; and (c) other payment methods used in the industry as of the date on which the study is conducted.

The for-hire, long-haul trucking sector is the primary focus of this study; however, the intercity passenger bus sector is also examined. Chapter 1 explains the rationale for this scoping and provides the study charge in full. To conduct the study, the National Academies convened a committee of experts

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¹ Public Law 117-58, November 15, 2021.

chaired by B. Starr McMullen, professor emeritus, Oregon State University. The members of the committee have expertise in the fields of freight and passenger motor carrier operations, motor carrier safety, transportation and labor economics, data systems and statistics, and transportation logistics and supply chain management. Committee member biographical information is contained in Appendix C.

Acronyms and Abbreviations