Truck drivers in the industry understand the frustration involved in making shipments, especially when it comes to detention. Many are expected to wait for hours at a time at warehouses, while loads are unloaded or loaded onto the trucks. This occurs when warehouses don’t have shipments ready when the truckers arrive. They call this being “detained.”

Pay Detained

And, while truck drivers are technically supposed to receive pay for the hours they spend detained, most do not. There is a grace period of about two hours for industry standards. After that time, truckers should receive detainment pay.

Apparently, according to a survey done by DAT Solutions, only 3% of drivers (from just over 250 trucking companies) said they receive detention pay for at least 90% of their claims. This leads to an incredible loss of money and time every year for drivers.

But… Uber Freight may have created a solution to save the industry from this problem. Essentially, the program matches shippers and truckers. This is done in an online marketplace. Generally, truckers must work through freight brokers. Those brokers tend to take a commission of 15 to 20% for the shipment.

Better Treatment for Truck Drivers

And, Uber Freight just announced that now, truck drivers on the app can also rate the warehouses and retailers that they work with. This is an amazing feature, as it helps other drivers know which shippers are the most efficient, as well as gives an incentive to warehouses to do better. Now, the service already has over 10,000 facility reviews from drivers. This is from the two-month pilot period of the app.

There are several other startups within the trucking community working on fixing this detention problem. Essentially, they are eliminating the “middleman” in freight brokerage. The goal is to make the work more efficient and make truck drivers’ jobs easier.

The top factors that truckers want to rate warehouses and shippers on? Their ability to load and unload fast, as well as their parking, food options, restroom facilities, and other services. As Xinfeng Le, the lead carrier product of Uber Freight, stated: “This ties back to what drivers actually care about. When they’re at a facility, they want to be treated with respect.”

And if drivers receive better treatment, respect, and the money they deserve… perhaps we wouldn’t have a driver shortage. What do you think of the Uber Freights program? Will it make things better for the trucking industry?