Driver Bob Pratt of Brandamore in Chester County doesn't need to look over the books to verify O'Kane's comments. He sees it on the road as he makes his daily deliveries to the Allentown area from A. Duie Pyle's West Chester depot.
"The traffic is not nearly as heavy," he said.
Before, he'd have to wait to pull up to loading docks because there were so many people making deliveries. It gave him time for lunch. "Now I back right in and I'm right out," he said.
Like many trucking companies, A. Duie Pyle responded by moving its most-skilled workforce, the drivers, to different positions to keep them on the payroll.
Driver Dan Silvestri of West Chester, for example, picked up dispatch shifts. Some drivers replaced warehouse workers, who in turn replaced temporary workers.
In Pennsylvania, the impact is big.
"We're the fourth-largest employer in the state of Pennsylvania," said Jim Runk, president of the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association.
In 2008, he said, 380,661 people - representing one out of 14 Pennsylvania workers - earned $14 billion in salaries working as drivers, warehouse jockeys, secretaries, and salespeople in trucking businesses.
That doesn't count workers in businesses that serve trucking, such as repair shops, or drivers employed by bakeries or newspapers.
These days, Ted Muse, 51, of West Philadelphia, is looking for another driving job. In his neighborhood, nearly 8 percent of the 2,729 people collecting unemployment have been laid off from trucking and warehouse jobs.
Since he lost his job in February, he has been offered four driving jobs - two are local, but he'd make less than two-thirds of his former pay. The other two are over-the-road, meaning weeks and months away from home.
"My family doesn't like that," he said. "It looks like it's going to be pretty tough."
Previous articles in the series, plus Jane Von Bergen's "Jobbing" blog and an interactive map of jobless claims, at http://go.philly.com/ jobbing
With the Pa. budget stalled, workers line up for aid. B1.
Bounced out of one law job, happily landed in another. D1.
Contact staff writer Jane M. Von Bergen at 215-854-2769 or jvonbergen@phillynews.com.
