An expert from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) told lawmakers at a Nov. 17 congressional hearing that holdups at pickup and delivery points are causing a chronic underutilization problem impacting U.S. long-haul truck drivers, leading to 40 percent of America’s trucking capacity being “left on the table every day.” David Correll, a research scientist at MIT’s Center for Transportation and Logistics, blamed “conventions for scheduling and processing” around pickup and delivery appointments for drastically reducing the amount of time truck drivers actually spend driving. Correll told lawmakers at the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing that America’s long-haul drivers are “seriously underutilized,” driving an average of 6.5 hours a day even though safety regulations allow them to drive 11 hours. “This chronic underutilization problem does not seem to be a function of what the drivers themselves do or don’t do, but rather an unfortunate consequence of our conventions for …