On June 1, 2011 a discount intercity bus carrying 59 people to New York’s Chinatown crashed, kill... more On June 1, 2011 a discount intercity bus carrying 59 people to New York’s Chinatown crashed, killing four people and injured more than 50 others. The carrier had a long history of violations and crashes and a safety rating far worse than the rest of the intercity bus industry. A driver fatigue rating of 86 on a scale of 1 to 100 meant that before the crash, federal officials had rated it among the most unsafe bus carriers. Its driver fitness rating of 99.7 meant that it ranked in the bottom 1%. Sky Express should not have been on the road and after the crash the FMCSA gave it an unsatisfactory rating and banned it from interstate service. Though the ban was too late for the victims, under US regulations this still did not prevent the company from continuing to operate intrastate. Safety advocates ’ calls to require seatbelts, stronger roofs, more driver training, and other regulatory changes do not address the problems that led to the crash and would not prevent future crashes. Inte...
The Economic and labour relations review/Economic and labour relations review, Mar 1, 2024
Most truck drivers experience economic pressure in the form of low pay rates, no pay for nondrivi... more Most truck drivers experience economic pressure in the form of low pay rates, no pay for nondriving work time, and long work hours. Unpaid working time, leading to low effective pay rates, encourages drivers to work excessive hours to pursue target earnings, which leads to fatigue and working time violations, and ultimately raises crash rates. This paper explores the complex relationship between regulatory violations, pay incentives, and crashes, to determine the effects of economic forces on carrier safety. We use data from 13,904 intrastate trucking companies in the United States, as well as median hourly truck driver wages from data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. We find that controlling for observed regulatory violations (hours of service, unsafe driving, and substance abuse), at the mean, 1% higher driver wages are associated with 1.04% fewer crashes. Stated differently, a 10% wage increase would be 5 times as effective as a 10% reduction in 'unsafe driving' or 2.5 times as effective as a 10% reduction in 'driver fitness' violations. This unit elasticity between driver pay and crashes suggests that higher compensation will bring direct and commensurate worker and public safety benefits. Every unit in higher pay, at the mean, will lead to a corresponding unit improvement in safety. Our findings suggest that the most effective way for regulators to pursue their mission to reduce crashes, fatal or otherwise, would be to collect firm-level data on truck driver compensation and allow their methodology to follow sound science.
Regulatory restructuring of trucking, begun by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) in 1977 a... more Regulatory restructuring of trucking, begun by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) in 1977 and put into law with the Motor Carrier Act of 1980, fundamentally changed the industry. It formally removed most economic regulations by allowing existing firms to enter new markets, letting new firms enter markets of their choice, eliminating collective ratemaking (and ICC supervision of rates) and allowing carriers to discriminate in favor of large shippers. However, economic deregulation did not remove all regulations from the trucking industry. On the contrary, a patchwork of social regulation including commercial driver's licenses, drug and alcohol testing, new highway programs and extensive hazardous-materials handling rules was soon created to fill the void. The unanticipated consequences of economic deregulation need to be addressed. A new, carefully considered regulatory framework should be established that would minimize the burdens on trucking companies, their employees and consumers. Further, the ICC needs both direction and a mandate from Congress. If ICC policy continues on its current course, the institutional infrastructure of the entire transportation industry will continue to degrade.
In the trucking industry, truck drivers' duties include not only driving trucks but also non-driv... more In the trucking industry, truck drivers' duties include not only driving trucks but also non-driving labor. However, non-driving work is not necessarily paid. This article analyses how the payment for non-driving duties (non-driving pay) affects truck drivers' work hours. Using the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Long-Haul Truck Driver survey, the study finds that remunerating drivers for non-driving duties decreases drivers' work hours. Drivers who are paid for their non-driving labor may reach their target earnings in fewer work hours, leading them to refrain from working extremely long hours and more willingly comply with working time regulations. The policy implication is that paying for non-driving labor can prevent drivers from working excessively long hours, mitigating fatigue, and consequent accidents. Thus, pay for nondriving labor may enhance their safety and health.
Researchers have studied truck crashes extensively using methods appropriate for behavior, techno... more Researchers have studied truck crashes extensively using methods appropriate for behavior, technology, and regulatory enforcement. Few safety studies associate crashes with economic pressure, a pervasive latent influence. This study uses data from the US Large Truck Crash Causation Study to predict truck crashes based on work pressure factors that have their origins in market pressures on motor carriers and truck drivers. Logistic regression shows that factors associated with the work process, including an index of work-pressure attributes, predict the likelihood that crash analysts consider the truck driver to be the person whose last action could have prevented the crash. While not proving causation, the data suggest that economic factors affecting drivers contribute significantly to truck crashes.
Commercial motor vehicle driving is one of the most dangerous occupations in the United States. T... more Commercial motor vehicle driving is one of the most dangerous occupations in the United States. The production of most trucking services takes places on public roadways, which makes commercial motor vehicle safety a topic of concern for industry stakeholders, supply chain operations, policy makers, and the general public. This study explores the relationship between new employee driver compensation and for-hire interstate truckload motor carrier crash incidence. The results suggest that, all else constant, higher benefits are associated with fewer crashes. While mileage pay rates predict crashes, we find that higher mileage rates can be correlated with either higher or lower crash frequencydepending on the carrier's existing starting pay level. This may be due to pernicious incentives created by piece-rate pay structures, because drivers who have more unpaid non-driving work time may earn a slightly higher mileage pay rate, which only partially compensates them for unpaid labour time. Regardless, these results suggest that compensation is an important predictor of safety and the existing pay practices in the industry may be unsafe. It also suggests that the role of compensation in motor carrier safety performance deserves further exploration with better quality data-especially full documentation of hours of work and pay rates.
Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Oct 1, 2004
geographic differences associated with the administration of these entry criteria. But the most s... more geographic differences associated with the administration of these entry criteria. But the most startling finding of this comprehensive study is how few immigrants were ever actually excluded despite all of the legal prohibitions. Only 79,000 persons were denied entry for medical reasons over this entire period, and only 11% of these were actually deported. Moreover, at no time was disease the basis for more than a minority of rejections. Most commonly cited, instead, was the prospect of dependency ("likely to become a public charge"). The study is extraordinarily well-documented (the endnotes alone run to 100 pages) and it is concisely written. It is a thoughtful discussion of a crucial period in the development of the American labor force and the effort of immigration policy to influence its composition when the level of immigration itself was uncontrolled.
Page 141. 4 RAILROAD DEREGULATION AND UNION LABOR EARNINGS Wayne K. Talley and Ann V. Schwarz-Mil... more Page 141. 4 RAILROAD DEREGULATION AND UNION LABOR EARNINGS Wayne K. Talley and Ann V. Schwarz-Miller INTRODUCTION Federal economic regulation of the US railroad industry began with passage of the Interstate ...
Given the fact that child abuse and intimate partner violence often co-occur, intra-household bar... more Given the fact that child abuse and intimate partner violence often co-occur, intra-household bargaining models provide a useful framework to investigate the relationship between macroeconomic factors and child sexual abuse (CSA). Non-cooperative bargaining models predict that labor market opportunities that bene t women improve their bargaining power and lead to lower levels of intimate partner violence against them. We posit that this protective effect extends to children as well, and exploit exogenous variation in macroeconomic factors to examine the impact of gender speci c wages and employment on police reported CSA in South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia from 2006 to 2019. The empirical analysis provides evidence that narrowing the gender wage gap leads to a decline in police reported CSA incidents perpetrated by mothers' intimate partners, whereas improvements in relative employment opportunities do not yield any such effects. Consistent with previous literature, our results show that wages, not employment, determine bargaining power. The ndings also underscore important spillover bene ts of policy solutions directed towards narrowing the gender wage gap.
Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Jul 1, 1995
ment instrument will lead to higher unemployment in those Italian or British regions with a high ... more ment instrument will lead to higher unemployment in those Italian or British regions with a high concentration of industries sensitive to changes in exchange rates. Based on a comparison with the United States (with an already functioning monetary and economic union), he finds little support for such a view. As for the third topic of the book, the effects of integration on the rest of the world, Bent Hansen acknowledges a trend toward tightening immigration policies in the process of European integration. Adverse labor market effects can be expected, since such tightening has led in the past to an outward shift of the Beveridge curve, thus worsening matching problems. Considering the likely consequences of European integration on the U.S. economy, William Dickens concludes that unless a trade war between the United States and Europe develops, the consequences of integration will be minimal. In contrast, for Eastern Europe,Jasminka Sohinger and Daniel Rubinstein argue that the effects will be dramatic, if protectionist forces gain the upper hand in Europe and immigration and trade are restricted. This volume is essential reading for all concerned with the questions of economic integration, and in particular for those interested in the making of Europe. The interdisciplinary character of the book, as well as the important place it assigns institutions, makes it basic reading for a broad variety of scholars in different disciplines in the social sciences, and the clear structure of the volume enhances its usefulness. The comparative angle of many of the articles is another strength of the volume. Many views expressed by different authors have, since publication, been confirmed: for example, the predicted tightening of immigration policies for nationals of non-member countries. I disagree with the authors, however, on two matters. First, it is assumed in some chaptersas also, apparently, by some European policy makers-that the creation of the U.S. "single market" is comparable to the integration of Europe. In fact, Europe's problems are of a very different order from those of the United States, involving as they do historically different nation-states with different political economies, institutions, cultures, and languages. Language alone is a very potent barrier (especially, perhaps, for labor, which is not always as experienced with high-level international bargaining as is top management). Europe also seems very different from the United States in the relative speed of political versus economic integration, with real political integration in Europe on the far horizon. European integration, involving the integration of independent (while interlocked) nation states' economies, is more comparable to an economic integration along the lines of NAFTA than to processes within any one country, and I would therefore like to have seen more references to the implications of and debates about NAFTA. Second, the limits of institutional transfers and the historic character of country models are not discussed. Although the strength of the German model is forcefully affirmed, whether that model can be adopted wholly or in part by other countries, and whether it will withstand the strains of a globalizing economy, is not thoroughly discussed. As the recent problems of the "Swedish model" show, such models are not built for all time or all circumstances. It may well be that the German model has found the middle path between market-driven, decentralized economies, which usually combine high skill/high wage sectors with low skill/low wage sectors, and more regulated and centralized "up market product" economies, in which lowskill, low-wage alternatives seem not to exist. Still, given high unemployment among the lowskilled and increasing global competitive pressures, a more thorough discussion of not only the strength but also the weaknesses of such country models would have been worth-while.
A summary of the elements of deregulation includes: 9 Freedom of entry; 9 Reduced and then elimin... more A summary of the elements of deregulation includes: 9 Freedom of entry; 9 Reduced and then eliminated collective rate-making; 9 Reduced rate-bureau authority; 9 Required tariff filing for many years after 1980, although carriers were allowed to mask filings using customer numbers; 9 Eliminated antitrust immunity; 9 Permitted rate discrimination which led to discounts favoring larger shippers over smaller shippers; 9 Eliminated gateways and indirect routings; 9 Eliminated the "Rule of Eight" for contract carriers; 1 and 9 Expanded hauling rights of formerly exempt and private carriers, blurring the distinctions between them and the common and contract carriers (whose distinctions also became blurred). A summary of the consequences includes: 9 Increased safety regulation (e.g., the establishment of a commercial drivers license; increased drug and alcohol testing) to address perceived deterioration in highway safety, a negative externality; 9 Industry concentration in less-than-truckload (LTL) and package carrier markets; 9 Substantial consolidation in truckload (TL) creating very large (though not market-dominant) carriers; 9 Industry segmentation (e.g., between LTL and TL); 9 National and multinational LTL and TL carriers; 9 Lower wages and most likely longer miles and more hours of work, especially in TL, and unpaid non-driving work hours in TL; 9 Lower profits and bankruptcies of carriers, along with widespread unemployment and employment dislocation during the first three years of deregulation; 9 Increased employment over the long term as the industry's share of the national freight bill increased steadily; and 9 Increased number of carriers, particularly in the TL sector. Trucking Industry Sectoral Definitions. The less-than-truckload (LTL) segment of the general freight trucking industry hauls shipments that are less than 10,000 pounds. The typical shipment is approximately 1,000 pounds. Their operations require extensive pickup-and-delivery networks and terminals in which to sort freight headed for multiple destinations (Belzer, 2000, p. 202). Depending on the definition of the industry's scope, the market is one of the most heavily unionized in the trucking industry, though unionization has declined substantially since 1995 (Belzer, 2000, p. 109).
While the Chinese liberalized their economy and created a brand new labor market scarcely fifteen... more While the Chinese liberalized their economy and created a brand new labor market scarcely fifteen years ago, they have relied on their pre-existing institutions, including governmentaffiliated trade unions, to provide a structure for labor-management relations. As industrial
On June 1, 2011 a discount intercity bus carrying 59 people to New York’s Chinatown crashed, kill... more On June 1, 2011 a discount intercity bus carrying 59 people to New York’s Chinatown crashed, killing four people and injured more than 50 others. The carrier had a long history of violations and crashes and a safety rating far worse than the rest of the intercity bus industry. A driver fatigue rating of 86 on a scale of 1 to 100 meant that before the crash, federal officials had rated it among the most unsafe bus carriers. Its driver fitness rating of 99.7 meant that it ranked in the bottom 1%. Sky Express should not have been on the road and after the crash the FMCSA gave it an unsatisfactory rating and banned it from interstate service. Though the ban was too late for the victims, under US regulations this still did not prevent the company from continuing to operate intrastate. Safety advocates ’ calls to require seatbelts, stronger roofs, more driver training, and other regulatory changes do not address the problems that led to the crash and would not prevent future crashes. Inte...
The Economic and labour relations review/Economic and labour relations review, Mar 1, 2024
Most truck drivers experience economic pressure in the form of low pay rates, no pay for nondrivi... more Most truck drivers experience economic pressure in the form of low pay rates, no pay for nondriving work time, and long work hours. Unpaid working time, leading to low effective pay rates, encourages drivers to work excessive hours to pursue target earnings, which leads to fatigue and working time violations, and ultimately raises crash rates. This paper explores the complex relationship between regulatory violations, pay incentives, and crashes, to determine the effects of economic forces on carrier safety. We use data from 13,904 intrastate trucking companies in the United States, as well as median hourly truck driver wages from data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. We find that controlling for observed regulatory violations (hours of service, unsafe driving, and substance abuse), at the mean, 1% higher driver wages are associated with 1.04% fewer crashes. Stated differently, a 10% wage increase would be 5 times as effective as a 10% reduction in 'unsafe driving' or 2.5 times as effective as a 10% reduction in 'driver fitness' violations. This unit elasticity between driver pay and crashes suggests that higher compensation will bring direct and commensurate worker and public safety benefits. Every unit in higher pay, at the mean, will lead to a corresponding unit improvement in safety. Our findings suggest that the most effective way for regulators to pursue their mission to reduce crashes, fatal or otherwise, would be to collect firm-level data on truck driver compensation and allow their methodology to follow sound science.
Regulatory restructuring of trucking, begun by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) in 1977 a... more Regulatory restructuring of trucking, begun by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) in 1977 and put into law with the Motor Carrier Act of 1980, fundamentally changed the industry. It formally removed most economic regulations by allowing existing firms to enter new markets, letting new firms enter markets of their choice, eliminating collective ratemaking (and ICC supervision of rates) and allowing carriers to discriminate in favor of large shippers. However, economic deregulation did not remove all regulations from the trucking industry. On the contrary, a patchwork of social regulation including commercial driver's licenses, drug and alcohol testing, new highway programs and extensive hazardous-materials handling rules was soon created to fill the void. The unanticipated consequences of economic deregulation need to be addressed. A new, carefully considered regulatory framework should be established that would minimize the burdens on trucking companies, their employees and consumers. Further, the ICC needs both direction and a mandate from Congress. If ICC policy continues on its current course, the institutional infrastructure of the entire transportation industry will continue to degrade.
In the trucking industry, truck drivers' duties include not only driving trucks but also non-driv... more In the trucking industry, truck drivers' duties include not only driving trucks but also non-driving labor. However, non-driving work is not necessarily paid. This article analyses how the payment for non-driving duties (non-driving pay) affects truck drivers' work hours. Using the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Long-Haul Truck Driver survey, the study finds that remunerating drivers for non-driving duties decreases drivers' work hours. Drivers who are paid for their non-driving labor may reach their target earnings in fewer work hours, leading them to refrain from working extremely long hours and more willingly comply with working time regulations. The policy implication is that paying for non-driving labor can prevent drivers from working excessively long hours, mitigating fatigue, and consequent accidents. Thus, pay for nondriving labor may enhance their safety and health.
Researchers have studied truck crashes extensively using methods appropriate for behavior, techno... more Researchers have studied truck crashes extensively using methods appropriate for behavior, technology, and regulatory enforcement. Few safety studies associate crashes with economic pressure, a pervasive latent influence. This study uses data from the US Large Truck Crash Causation Study to predict truck crashes based on work pressure factors that have their origins in market pressures on motor carriers and truck drivers. Logistic regression shows that factors associated with the work process, including an index of work-pressure attributes, predict the likelihood that crash analysts consider the truck driver to be the person whose last action could have prevented the crash. While not proving causation, the data suggest that economic factors affecting drivers contribute significantly to truck crashes.
Commercial motor vehicle driving is one of the most dangerous occupations in the United States. T... more Commercial motor vehicle driving is one of the most dangerous occupations in the United States. The production of most trucking services takes places on public roadways, which makes commercial motor vehicle safety a topic of concern for industry stakeholders, supply chain operations, policy makers, and the general public. This study explores the relationship between new employee driver compensation and for-hire interstate truckload motor carrier crash incidence. The results suggest that, all else constant, higher benefits are associated with fewer crashes. While mileage pay rates predict crashes, we find that higher mileage rates can be correlated with either higher or lower crash frequencydepending on the carrier's existing starting pay level. This may be due to pernicious incentives created by piece-rate pay structures, because drivers who have more unpaid non-driving work time may earn a slightly higher mileage pay rate, which only partially compensates them for unpaid labour time. Regardless, these results suggest that compensation is an important predictor of safety and the existing pay practices in the industry may be unsafe. It also suggests that the role of compensation in motor carrier safety performance deserves further exploration with better quality data-especially full documentation of hours of work and pay rates.
Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Oct 1, 2004
geographic differences associated with the administration of these entry criteria. But the most s... more geographic differences associated with the administration of these entry criteria. But the most startling finding of this comprehensive study is how few immigrants were ever actually excluded despite all of the legal prohibitions. Only 79,000 persons were denied entry for medical reasons over this entire period, and only 11% of these were actually deported. Moreover, at no time was disease the basis for more than a minority of rejections. Most commonly cited, instead, was the prospect of dependency ("likely to become a public charge"). The study is extraordinarily well-documented (the endnotes alone run to 100 pages) and it is concisely written. It is a thoughtful discussion of a crucial period in the development of the American labor force and the effort of immigration policy to influence its composition when the level of immigration itself was uncontrolled.
Page 141. 4 RAILROAD DEREGULATION AND UNION LABOR EARNINGS Wayne K. Talley and Ann V. Schwarz-Mil... more Page 141. 4 RAILROAD DEREGULATION AND UNION LABOR EARNINGS Wayne K. Talley and Ann V. Schwarz-Miller INTRODUCTION Federal economic regulation of the US railroad industry began with passage of the Interstate ...
Given the fact that child abuse and intimate partner violence often co-occur, intra-household bar... more Given the fact that child abuse and intimate partner violence often co-occur, intra-household bargaining models provide a useful framework to investigate the relationship between macroeconomic factors and child sexual abuse (CSA). Non-cooperative bargaining models predict that labor market opportunities that bene t women improve their bargaining power and lead to lower levels of intimate partner violence against them. We posit that this protective effect extends to children as well, and exploit exogenous variation in macroeconomic factors to examine the impact of gender speci c wages and employment on police reported CSA in South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia from 2006 to 2019. The empirical analysis provides evidence that narrowing the gender wage gap leads to a decline in police reported CSA incidents perpetrated by mothers' intimate partners, whereas improvements in relative employment opportunities do not yield any such effects. Consistent with previous literature, our results show that wages, not employment, determine bargaining power. The ndings also underscore important spillover bene ts of policy solutions directed towards narrowing the gender wage gap.
Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Jul 1, 1995
ment instrument will lead to higher unemployment in those Italian or British regions with a high ... more ment instrument will lead to higher unemployment in those Italian or British regions with a high concentration of industries sensitive to changes in exchange rates. Based on a comparison with the United States (with an already functioning monetary and economic union), he finds little support for such a view. As for the third topic of the book, the effects of integration on the rest of the world, Bent Hansen acknowledges a trend toward tightening immigration policies in the process of European integration. Adverse labor market effects can be expected, since such tightening has led in the past to an outward shift of the Beveridge curve, thus worsening matching problems. Considering the likely consequences of European integration on the U.S. economy, William Dickens concludes that unless a trade war between the United States and Europe develops, the consequences of integration will be minimal. In contrast, for Eastern Europe,Jasminka Sohinger and Daniel Rubinstein argue that the effects will be dramatic, if protectionist forces gain the upper hand in Europe and immigration and trade are restricted. This volume is essential reading for all concerned with the questions of economic integration, and in particular for those interested in the making of Europe. The interdisciplinary character of the book, as well as the important place it assigns institutions, makes it basic reading for a broad variety of scholars in different disciplines in the social sciences, and the clear structure of the volume enhances its usefulness. The comparative angle of many of the articles is another strength of the volume. Many views expressed by different authors have, since publication, been confirmed: for example, the predicted tightening of immigration policies for nationals of non-member countries. I disagree with the authors, however, on two matters. First, it is assumed in some chaptersas also, apparently, by some European policy makers-that the creation of the U.S. "single market" is comparable to the integration of Europe. In fact, Europe's problems are of a very different order from those of the United States, involving as they do historically different nation-states with different political economies, institutions, cultures, and languages. Language alone is a very potent barrier (especially, perhaps, for labor, which is not always as experienced with high-level international bargaining as is top management). Europe also seems very different from the United States in the relative speed of political versus economic integration, with real political integration in Europe on the far horizon. European integration, involving the integration of independent (while interlocked) nation states' economies, is more comparable to an economic integration along the lines of NAFTA than to processes within any one country, and I would therefore like to have seen more references to the implications of and debates about NAFTA. Second, the limits of institutional transfers and the historic character of country models are not discussed. Although the strength of the German model is forcefully affirmed, whether that model can be adopted wholly or in part by other countries, and whether it will withstand the strains of a globalizing economy, is not thoroughly discussed. As the recent problems of the "Swedish model" show, such models are not built for all time or all circumstances. It may well be that the German model has found the middle path between market-driven, decentralized economies, which usually combine high skill/high wage sectors with low skill/low wage sectors, and more regulated and centralized "up market product" economies, in which lowskill, low-wage alternatives seem not to exist. Still, given high unemployment among the lowskilled and increasing global competitive pressures, a more thorough discussion of not only the strength but also the weaknesses of such country models would have been worth-while.
A summary of the elements of deregulation includes: 9 Freedom of entry; 9 Reduced and then elimin... more A summary of the elements of deregulation includes: 9 Freedom of entry; 9 Reduced and then eliminated collective rate-making; 9 Reduced rate-bureau authority; 9 Required tariff filing for many years after 1980, although carriers were allowed to mask filings using customer numbers; 9 Eliminated antitrust immunity; 9 Permitted rate discrimination which led to discounts favoring larger shippers over smaller shippers; 9 Eliminated gateways and indirect routings; 9 Eliminated the "Rule of Eight" for contract carriers; 1 and 9 Expanded hauling rights of formerly exempt and private carriers, blurring the distinctions between them and the common and contract carriers (whose distinctions also became blurred). A summary of the consequences includes: 9 Increased safety regulation (e.g., the establishment of a commercial drivers license; increased drug and alcohol testing) to address perceived deterioration in highway safety, a negative externality; 9 Industry concentration in less-than-truckload (LTL) and package carrier markets; 9 Substantial consolidation in truckload (TL) creating very large (though not market-dominant) carriers; 9 Industry segmentation (e.g., between LTL and TL); 9 National and multinational LTL and TL carriers; 9 Lower wages and most likely longer miles and more hours of work, especially in TL, and unpaid non-driving work hours in TL; 9 Lower profits and bankruptcies of carriers, along with widespread unemployment and employment dislocation during the first three years of deregulation; 9 Increased employment over the long term as the industry's share of the national freight bill increased steadily; and 9 Increased number of carriers, particularly in the TL sector. Trucking Industry Sectoral Definitions. The less-than-truckload (LTL) segment of the general freight trucking industry hauls shipments that are less than 10,000 pounds. The typical shipment is approximately 1,000 pounds. Their operations require extensive pickup-and-delivery networks and terminals in which to sort freight headed for multiple destinations (Belzer, 2000, p. 202). Depending on the definition of the industry's scope, the market is one of the most heavily unionized in the trucking industry, though unionization has declined substantially since 1995 (Belzer, 2000, p. 109).
While the Chinese liberalized their economy and created a brand new labor market scarcely fifteen... more While the Chinese liberalized their economy and created a brand new labor market scarcely fifteen years ago, they have relied on their pre-existing institutions, including governmentaffiliated trade unions, to provide a structure for labor-management relations. As industrial
An edited version of this article will soon appear in The Economic and Labour Relations Review http://journals.sagepub.com/toc/elra/0/0
We estimate the labor supply curve for long-haul truck drivers in the United States, applying ord... more We estimate the labor supply curve for long-haul truck drivers in the United States, applying ordinary least squares regression to a survey of truck drivers in the United States. We start with the standard model of the labor supply curve and then develop two novel extensions of the standard model, incorporating pay level and pay method, testing the target earnings hypothesis. We distinguish between long-haul and short-haul jobs driving commercial motor vehicles. Truck and bus drivers choose between long-distance jobs requiring very long hours of work away from home and short-distance jobs generally requiring fewer hours. The labor supply curve exhibits a classic backward bending shape reflecting drivers' preference to work until they reach target earnings. Above target earnings, at a "safe rate" for truck drivers, they trade labor for leisure; they work fewer hours, leading to greater highway safety. While other research has shown that higher paid truck and bus drivers are safer, this is the first study showing why higher paid drivers are safer. Drivers work fewer hours at a higher pay rate and likely have less fatigue. Pay rates also have implications for driver health because worker health deteriorates as working time exceeds 40 hours.
Uploads
Papers by Michael Belzer