The companies that successfully confronted the challenges of 2009 and made it into 2010 are leaner and more efficient than ever.
We believe overall trucking industry volume will remain flat in 2010. Consumers will continue to hold back spending, look for bargains, and retailers will be forced to remain focused on reducing costs in order to be competitive. Inventories will be reduced to all time lows and more pressure will be placed on the trucking industry to deliver on time.
A shortage of capacity is likely in some markets where companies have either gone out of business or decided to pull out. Drayage rates in these markets should see healthy increases. Securing the right business partner could be more important than ever before.
Highway infrastructure remains an important issue that must be addressed as the current conditions continue to deteriorate. Our future economic growth is dependent upon a solid infrastructure to facilitate commerce.
Driver recruitment, retention and compensation will remain a challenge for the long-term viability of our industry. Many initiatives are ongoing; however, more needs to be done to attract and retain the right individuals to our industry.
While overall industry safety statistics continue to improve safety must remain a top priority. It is important that customers continue to use the tools available to check safety ratings of their partners such as SafeStat through the Department of Transportation’s website, www.safersys.org. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will be rolling out CSA 2010, the Safety Measurement System, by mid year to replace SafeStat. This will provide the industry with an even better tool to manage safety performance of carriers and drivers.