On December 15, 2011 CSA will celebrate its first year anniversary. At the same time drivers and carriers who have been scored by CSA can be proud of the fact they are still part of trucking. The CSA learning curve has been steep in 2011 and in 2012 it will become steeper.

Drivers who are still with us today, for the most part, have a good chance of being here this time next year. Carriers however may not be so fortunate since CSA has only graded 15% of the industry. There are still plenty of carriers with extremely high SMS numbers that will find 2012 financially and legally very difficult but it will be because of their own undoing.

Drivers on the other hand should have a better year ahead unless they are working for some of these leftover outlaw carriers who are so arrogant as to believe they are above CSA regulations. These are the people who have used every trick, every underhanded method known to man including cash payoffs and crooked politicians to keep them in business in years past. Good luck with that in 2012! They best get their butts in gear if they want to survive and thrive.

But how about these CSA tested drivers who are still around. The number one concern for about a third of the carriers out there today is the belief that a driver shortage has begun. Carriers that are experiencing tight driver pools are growing every day. At some point in time a bidding war for drivers will emerge. The best drivers will be sucked out of the driving pool by the highest bidder when the reality of a shortage finally sinks in. The FMCSA has stated they will make it more difficult for drivers to get jobs in 2012 unless they have a clean PSP. That is going to turn the industry thinking upside down as driver pools shrink.

Drivers who have marks on their PSP will have to stay put if they want to continue to drive. For the drivers who are well prepared this will be a good thing. For those who do not know how to take advantage of the situation, the situation will take advantage of them.

The FMCSA mandates that commercial drivers become part of white collar society. So let’s begin here. First, white collar means a few specific things like education and understanding. CSA clearly test the abilities of drivers and those who are not CSA compliant are leaving the trucking industry and not always under their own power. Second, Clean and well kept. Third, drivers must be confident of themselves and their ability to perform their duties. Fourth, drivers must be team players who work well with other team members to achieve company goals.

I will say this is a very big order for the trucking industry but not impossible. Carriers will not lead this change because of the status quo. Drivers must clean up their own acts and make all these adjustments because it is the future of the industry. They have to prove to the carriers that they fit the bill of a white collar worker before they are going to be paid or respected like one.

The 2012 CSA qualified driver will not be a job hopping driver! Number one, it is not the best method of earning the most money. Number two, everytime a driver changes jobs he loses money no matter how he thinks about it. The numbers I have published in past blogs prove that. Just missing a paycheck for two weeks will cause a driver to have to work a solid year to make up for it. A year wasted. Three, everytime you leave a carrier you also leave the routes that you have learned over time. Routes that you became efficient in running. All the short cuts, all the places you know to avoid during high traffic times have been lost and you have to learn that all over again. It cost drivers and carriers more money a year than I care to think about.

Quitting a job is like divorcing your family. You have to start all over again and you leave a bad taste in the mouths of everyone you had relationships with. I see way too many drivers today that take jobs and at the same time are planning their next flight to another carrier. A driver doing that is in the wrong business. If fact, carriers should get together and ban drivers who switch carriers more than two times in a year. That gives a driver one chance a year in case of an emergency plus overall it would save millions of dollars a year for drivers and carriers.

Shippers need to fund higher driver pay and better benefits. Drivers should have mandatory paid vacations every six months so they don’t burn out on the road. I think a lot of drivers jump jobs simply because they need a break and carriers do not have that in their planning thus leaving these stressed out drivers no other choice.

Drivers need benefits; they need longevity pay and a good retirement program. When carriers make all these things available to drivers, the industry as a whole will make a huge leap forward and all concerned will make more money and be more content.

The bottom line here is all this is up to drivers to start this ball rolling. The drivers New Year’s Resolution is to prove to yourself, your family and friends that being a commercial driver is something you are proud of. Dress well. Wear overalls to work on your truck. Shower and shave every day or trim your beard to be clean cut. Walk and dress with confidence because you have to know as much if not more about your equipment than an airline pilot does to do your jobs.

If you demand this standard of yourself and your fellow drivers then the public and the best people in your industry will respond and pay you the respect you deserve. This is true of every professional industry in America. If you don’t take yourself and your job seriously, who will? Step up be a leader, be a professional driver.