Labor + Supply Chain
Industry Headwinds
The Labor Shortage
The Labor Shortage
The competition for hourly workers accelerated during the pandemic as companies of all industries found that prospective and current employees were demanding sought-after benefits like flexibility, peer coaching, teamwork, diversity and work/life balance.
NACS hosted a series of webinars to help retailers find, hire and retain workers in this ever-changing post-pandemic economy:
- The Hiring Landscape: Stay interviews with long-term employees shed valuable insights on why they stay and how retailers can motivate them.
- Attracting and Hiring Team Members in the Next Normal: At TXB convenience stores in Texas, prospective employees undergo a Realistic Job Preview (RJP) interview process.
- Employee Value Proposition: Telling Your Story: Your company’s story can be the difference between fully staffed stores and scrambling to cover shifts.
Additionally, the NACS State of the Industry Compensation Report® of 2021 Data highlighted notable industry challenges and opportunities related to turnover, wages and benefits that transpired during 2021, which continue to impact retailers today.
The Supply Chain and Truck Driver Shortage
The truck driver shortage became a major factor behind supply chain issues, without much light peering through at the end of the tunnel.
NACS and other business groups have been raising these issues and concerns in Washington for some time, although it took a looming holiday season in 2021 for policymakers to pay attention.
Multiple times throughout the pandemic, NACS asked the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to issue a national hours of service waiver for truck drivers transporting fuel with success. In September 2021, FMCSA extended a previous emergency exemption to minimize the impact that the pandemic has had on supply and mitigate the driver shortage’s impact.
Hours of service waivers are necessary during times of duress and disruption. Our work to secure waivers goes back to 2005, when NACS worked with Congress to give authority to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to waive certain regulations affecting the transportation of fuels in times of emergency.
Today, theses waivers are vital for our industry to bring the fuel supply chain into operation as quickly and safely as possible. From stakeholder meetings and roundtable discussions, to securing regulatory waivers, to legislation that would allow commercial truck driving licenses for 18- to-21-year-old drivers, NACS continues to pursue solutions that help the industry tell our fueling story.
The Colonial Pipeline
The attack on the Colonial Pipeline is an example of how the relationships that NACS builds throughout the federal government—and how we tell our story to policymaker—has an enormous impact on how they respond.
Stress on the system created panic-buying at the pump, and NACS was there to explain market conditions. “Demand has been two to four times normal in many markets and the system, even when it isn’t stressed, can’t support that,” Jeff Lenard, NACS vice president of strategic industry initiatives, told CNN. “Not only does that take away from fuel from those who need it, it also creates concern over transport and storage, wherever they are going. Just because you have something with a lid doesn’t mean you need to fill it with fuel.”
Read more in NACS Magazine about the events that transpired and how NACS communicated our industry’s story: www.nacsmagazine.com/Colonial-shut-down
“Demand has been two to four times normal in many markets…
Just because you have something with a lid doesn’t mean you need to fill it with fuel.”
Jeff Lenard
NACS vice president of strategic industry initiatives
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