Thank A Trucker!

“Eastbound and down, loaded up and truckin', we're gonna do what they say can't be done.” (from the theme song of "Smoky and The Bandit") --- as sung by Jerry Reed (born in Atlanta in 1937 - died in 2008)

Good Sunday afternoon all and welcome to this edition, No. 94, of "With That Said" (WTS), an almost-weekly newsletter powered by your friends here at Supply Chain Now . Let's start today by taking a moment to recognize & celebrate National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, which kicks off today (September 15th) and runs through September 21st.

According to the American Trucking Associations : "National Truck Driver Appreciation Week is an important time for America to thank all the professional truck drivers for their hard work and commitment in undertaking one of our economy's most demanding and important jobs. This weeklong celebration honors the professional truck drivers who deliver America's freight safely and securely every day. These 3.5 million professional men and women not only deliver our goods safely, securely, and on time, but they also keep our highways safe."

Here are a few fun facts about the U.S. trucking industry:

The trucking industry moves about 11 billion tons of goods yearly across the United States. In fact, about 70% of all goods are moved at some point by a truck. 91% of all lumber, 92% of all foods, 65% of all pharmaceuticals and a whole bunch more is moved by a truck. As you might imagine, the trucking industry is an extraordinary contributor to our nation's economy & GDP, as according to the ATA, the industry generated about $941 BILLION in gross freight revenues in 2022.

There are 13 million trucks registered in the U.S., of which, 2.9 million are tractor-trailers. Of the 3.5 million truck drivers, about 587,000 are self-employed drivers, which are typically referred to as owner operators. Learn more about the owner operator model here in a blog from our friends at Schneider .

We bet you've heard that there's a driver shortage for years in the trucking industry, right? Here's an interesting take, where Lars Offerdahl with Anderson Trucking Service offers his perspective that seeks to debunk the driver shortage myth, as well as more accurately explain what the industry is seeing when it comes to that critical human element: the professional truck driver. Lars states: "The prevailing belief in a driver shortage sparks a labyrinth of complexities. I’ll start by answering the question simply: No, there isn’t a truck driver shortage right now. In fact, we have a surplus of drivers." Check out the rest here .

The SCN team has enjoyed interviewing a variety of truck drivers over the years:

"What I want to impress on people is the importance of the trucking industry. Without our industry, life as they know it would not exist. Everything that they put their hands on has been delivered by a truck. They need to realize the importance of this industry and the sacrifice that drivers make so that they can have all the things that make their life comfortable," said April Coolidge, an award-winning professional truck driver with Walmart. Check out the replay of this episode from 2021 here .

On a separate episode from a few years back, trucking industry dynamo Kellylynn McLaughlin joined SCN and spoke about adventure, meeting new people, and touring facilities. She made driving a truck more like an expedition than a job. Kellylynn is a professional OTR driver and back in 2020, she was appointed as Schneider’s first-ever "Women in Trucking’ Driver Ambassador". This initiative was part of the company's diversity recruitment program to encourage new people to consider a career in trucking. In this conversation, Kellylynn joins co-hosts Scott Luton and Ward Richmond, SIOR , to share her view of life on the road. Check out the replay via YouTube here .

On one of Jenny Froome 's many appearances here on SCN, she brought her friend & industry leader Nicci Scott Anderson to the show to talk about her company's work when it comes to "Challenging Supply Chain Norms in South Africa". Jenny & Scott spoke with Nicci about her passion when it comes to training & developing new drivers, especially female drivers. Nicci shared: "It has been quite a revelation for me to realize that we were not only setting women up for a skill and an occupation, but also changing the dynamic of their family. For many of them, they were the first woman in their family to have a driver's license." Check out the replay via YouTube here .

Lastly, back in 2022, professional truck driver Joey Thiessen with Southeastern Freight Lines joined Scott to offer up perspective & experience from the road. The pride of Dacula, Georgia, Joey wanted to share some of the most important things about trucking with our audience, including: "The biggest thing is just the sacrifice that logistics professionals and drivers do on a daily basis." Take a listen to that episode here .

To professional truck drivers everywhere, here in the U.S. and abroad: THANK YOU!

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Check out these resources, tools & perspectives from across the SCN ecosystem:

--- There has been little movement in the negotiations between the ILA and the USMX. A disastrous strike is looming. Scott shared a great read from Jon Gold in a post from last week, as well as invited the SCN fam to cast their predictive vote on what lies ahead. Read more here .

--- From our friends at OMNIA Partners comes a free resource focused on "Spend Visibility: From Analysis to Action". Analysis is great. Action is better. In this guide, you'll learn how to: prioritize and execute your spend visibility initiatives; gather stakeholders to action your data visibility findings in your organization; create a strategic roadmap actioning your spend data in your organization; execute, govern, and continuously improve. Download the resource here and be sure to check out the recent webinar on SCN that focused on proven ways to optimize procurement operations with GPOs, featuring Patrick Halley & Daniel Craig . Tune in to the on-demand recording here .

--- In his weekly "Good News" message, Scott posed several questions about whether or not global supply chain is ready for the next massive disruption that is on its way. "Have some leaders and organizations already forgotten the painful lessons we learned a few years ago? I don’t know about you, but I see signs of that every day. The Good News? “Change moves at the speed of trust. And trust moves at the speed of relationships.” And we all have the opportunity to invest in trust and relationships across our ecosystem every day, which will help us be prepared (amongst other things) to tackle what comes our way." Read more & share your views here .

--- Karin Bursa & Scott hosted a fascinating livestream last week, focused on the rise of cargo theft across the globe. Richie Daigle with Tive Inc shared a variety of trends, terms & countermeasures that supply chain leaders must be aware of, in order to be in position to protect their freight across their ecosystems. Take a look at an informative white paper entitled "Cyber Scams and High-Tech Heists: Securing Freight in the Age of Strategic Cargo Theft" and check out the on-demand version of the livestream discussion here .

--- We'd like to congratulate our WTS Trivia winners from last week: Helen Yu and Tim Judge . They both got a Breaking Bad trivia question correct, related to the character Gus Fring. This week's trivia question: in the 1980s truck driving-focused TV show "BJ & the Bear", what was the actor's name that played B.J. McKay? First reader (or two) to share the correct answer in the comments will win a Starbucks gift card.

--- Have you signed up for SCTECH 2024 yet? Hosted by Jorge A. Morales and our friends at ISCEA -International Supply Chain Education Alliance and taking place in October 2024, this year's theme is "Facing Supply Chain Challenges in the AI Age". We still have scholarships available for those in need, especially for Veterans, students & others. Learn more here OR check out the event site here: https://www.sctechshow.com/

--- From our friends at The Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) : We invite you to join us in Atlanta, Georgia, on October 28 - October 31, 2024, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the AME International Conference. Learn more about the Conference here . Veterans interested in the manufacturing industry: we have limited FREE registrations to offer you. This is an excellent opportunity for networking & professional development. Interested? Comment below & we'll reach out to you to make it happen.

--- Our SCN team is proud to support TFEST24, a global gathering of 1000+ senior supply chain leaders & professionals in Berlin on 11-13th November at the Colosseum Kino venue. This promises to be the go-to event for those working within the end-to-end supply chain ecosystem, featuring 100+ speakers and over 60+ hours of keynotes, panels, 1-2-1 networking, roundtable discussions, workshops, showcases, and more. Hosted by our friend, the one & only Maria Villablanca , we encourage you to learn more & register here .

--- Scott & the SCN team will be attending and speaking at Manifest: The Future of Supply Chain & Logistics in February 2025. In fact, one hundred and fifty of the most influential leaders across end-to-end supply chain and logistics, twenty percent of which are?CSCOs, COOs and CPOs from the largest shippers in the world, are all taking the stage at Manifest Vegas, being held at The Venetian, February 10th - February 12th, 2025. Register now to join us & save $200 on your All-Access Manifest Vegas attendee pass (that's $1000 off the on-site price)! Learn more about Manifest 2025 here .

FREIGHT MARKET INSIGHTS: The U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index for Q2 2024 was released last month, offering up actionable insights and valuable data from across the freight market, like this nugget: "For the first time since the second quarter of 2022, three of the five regions reported increases in quarterly shipment volumes, which might indicate that the freight market may be nearing its bottom." Download a free copy: https://bit.ly/scn-us-bank

MONDAY AT NOON: Join us for a new episode of "The Buzz", where Scott W. Luton and Karin Bursa will share news & analysis from across global industry. We'll talk about 10 of the top ten supply chain optimization strategies, as well as provide an update on the ILA/USMX ongoing negotiation and much, much more. Join LIVE at 12 noon ET / 6 pm CET: https://bit.ly/3B0ZJIe

TUESDAY AT NOON: According to some analysts, a data breach in 2024 costs an organization $5M on average. However, cyber security challenges are just one of the endless tech challenges & risks that supply chain leaders must address successfully. On Tuesday, we'll take a look specifically at the procurement space, and offer up critical insights & expert advice on how to secure your infrastructure and position your organization's procurement strategy for success in the face of these modern challenges. Richard McVay talks with Scott to share actionable insights & more. Join us: https://bit.ly/3ZtM2vF

WEDNESDAY AT NOON: Join SCN hosts Scott Luton and Kevin L. Jackson, CISSP?,CCSP? as they welcome Ronny Frank Horvath, MBA with IBM and David Vallejo with SAP for an engaging discussion where we dive deep into the transformative power of Artificial Intelligence in the supply chain industry: https://bit.ly/3ZrdBpt

THURSDAY AT NOON: Join our discussion as we delve into the significant issues facing supply chains today. Cost optimization and value creation are necessities, yet a lack of skilled talent among teams is driving many supply chains into disruption, even before governance pressures take hold. Scott is joined by Sam W Pemberton , Group CEO of Skill Dynamics & Kevin Takiar of Delta Airlines. They'll discuss the latest supply chain skills report findings, what it means to have the 'right' skills and the non-negotiables supply chain leaders must prioritize to make effective change within their teams. Register now to join us & bring your perspective: https://bit.ly/3B2mknL

Finally, via YouTube, check out a few of our favorite episodes from across the SCN ecosystem this year. What were some of yours? We welcome your comments & insights!

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