Harvest season is well underway for some crops, but there is growing concern not all those crops will make it to market. The problem stems from a lack of truck drivers.
The California Farm Bureau’s Ag Alert reported on the issue, saying during the carrot and onion harvests in Southern California they are already seeing up to 30% fewer drivers than before.
What’s behind it? One California-based trucking company says the problem has been growing for 10 years, but they say this year, it’s a bigger issue because some drivers are telling them they are concerned about COVID. Plus, workers are getting enhanced and extended pandemic economic relief through federal unemployment benefits.
“One of the ways we’ve discussed with the Farm Bureau and California League of Food Processors for this season in order to alleviate some of the shortage is to get President Biden to inact the Stafford Act, as Donald Trump did last year,” says Joe Antonini, president, Antonini Enterprises. “This would allow the weights of the loads to go from 80,000 pounds maximum, to 88,000 pounds a 10% weight tolerance. Given that, there would be some relief on the amount of drivers needed to bring in the harvest.”
Antonini says with the vaccine for COVID now readily available he hopes that will get some people back to work.
Trucking fleets are stepping up equipment orders and raising driver pay as well. But those efforts still haven’t caught up with demand, and that’s also pushing up prices for goods across the economy.
