By Loretta Chao
Kimberly-Clark Corp., maker of Scott toilet paper, has a plan to
reduce potential headaches from a nationwide trucker shortage: more
bathroom breaks for drivers.
The American Trucking Association estimates the industry needs
another 35,000 to 40,000 drivers to keep up with demand. When
drivers are scarce, shippers get hit with increasing transportation
costs and delays.
To ensure it gets its pick of drivers, Kimberly-Clark is
upgrading more than 20 distribution centers, including
better-maintained restrooms and rest areas to serve the hundreds of
drivers who pass through every day, said Scott DeGroot, the
company's vice president of transportation.
The goal: to make the company's loading areas attractive to
trucking carriers. That way they won't skip Kimberley-Clark, which
also makes Huggies diapers and Kleenex tissues, when they don't
have enough drivers to make all their contracted stops. When that
happens, the company must turn to the spot freight market, where
trucks can be hired on-demand but at volatile prices, Mr. DeGroot
said.
"Thousands of shipments aren't moving...because of the lack of
qualified drivers in the marketplace," Mr. DeGroot said. "We have
to overcome this driver shortage."
Mr. DeGroot said Kimberly-Clark's executives have stepped up
efforts in the last two years to train people in their distribution
centers to be more aware of driver experience. Previously, the
company's distribution centers sometimes only had portable
restrooms available to drivers, and they weren't always well kept,
he said. The company's rest areas now also have chairs, tables,
water fountains and snack machines. The company tries to minimize
load times and the number of miles it asks drivers to go so they
can spend less time away from home.
Restrooms are among the top complaints of drivers, who are
sometimes barred from using these facilities in loading areas even
after 10 hours on the road. Drivers, who like to be able plan their
shifts so as not to be stranded far from home, also complain that
some companies leave them waiting in line for hours, said Gail
Rutkowski, executive director of the National Shippers
Transportation Council.
"They're treated like second class citizens," she said, adding
that with the driver shortage shippers are catering more to
truckers' needs.
"The shift in shipper attitude is new, it's still emerging as
shippers are realizing this driver shortage is actually happening
now," Ms. Rutkowski said.
Meanwhile, Kimberly-Clark is also urging customers to make
similar improvements in their unloading areas, because earning a
bad reputation among drivers can leave a shipper stuck when demand
surpasses supply.
"Truck drivers I think many times are mistreated," Mr. DeGroot
said. "We want to make sure that doesn't happen on our sites ...
We're about 70% there."
Write to Loretta Chao at loretta.chao@wsj.com
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