US Department of Transport to Target Moving Scams

US Dept of Transport to Target Moving Scams

The US Department of Transportation has initiated a major campaign called "Operation Protect Your Move" to prevent fraudulent moving companies and brokers ahead of the peak season in the northern hemisphere. This comes as complaints about moving scams have doubled from 2015 to 2022.

The campaign has garnered support from Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg who stated that they will crack down on companies that hold people's possessions hostage and brokers that facilitate fraud. However, Newsweek has criticized the campaign's likely impact citing a previous investigation that revealed only 13 criminal and 6 civil cases were brought against rogue moving companies despite thousands of complaints.

Furthermore, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has not identified any new enforcement measures and a 2019 judgement found that the FMCSA did not have the power to assess penalties for moving company law violations. Despite this, the American Trucking Associations' Moving and Storage Conference (MSC) welcomed the FMCSA's efforts to protect consumers from rogue operators posing as movers during peak season.

US Trucking Employment Rises

The trucking industry in the United States saw a rebound of over 5,000 jobs in March. The Bureau of Labour Statistics reported an increase of 5,700 jobs bringing a total of 1,612,000 employed in the sector.

This brings the total jobs in the trucking industry up to 181,000 since March 2020, with an increase in hourly earnings for all employees in the sector. Hourly pay has now reached a high of US$30.08 per hour.

Meanwhile, the warehousing and storage industry experienced a decline of 11,800 jobs in March, returning employment levels to those seen in January 2022. This is a stark contrast to the period between April 2020 and June 2022, when the sector added 700,000 positions and reached a total employment of 1.88 million workers.

Truck Drivers Third Most Needed Profession

Truck drivers are the third most in-demand profession, that’s according to new research from the European Labour Authority.

There is a significant shortage of truck drivers in the European Union, Norway, and Switzerland, making it the third most in-demand profession the labour group says. The study, as reported by Trans.iNFO, found that the shortage of truck drivers ranked behind only "bricklayers and related workers" and "carpenters and joiners."

The shortage was deemed high magnitude in nearly three out of every four countries. The EURES Report also revealed that truck driving has the worst gender imbalance of any profession, with only 1% of female workers employed in this field. Furthermore, only 9% of drivers in the European Union, Switzerland, and Norway are under the age of 30.