I remain concerned about the general landscape in transportation, economically, politically and operationally. For the first time in 11 years, we are dealing with acute, systemic capacity challenges in trucking. Despite economist noise about carrier failings, the number of carriers has increased from 155,000 to 186,000 in the past 30 months, including those bankruptcies. Drivers and truckers are, in fact, entering the market because it makes economic sense. New data points to younger folks driving too. Unfortunately, they aren't coming in fast enough for our needs today.
Political headwinds will persist, working against an expanding carrier base. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has taken steps to favor large carriers to the detriment of small carriers, and seems focused on, or at least perfectly content with the goal of, reducing the number of carriers dramatically. Ostensibly, their goal is to reduce workload. HOS, increasing minimum insurance, ELDs, CSA, you name it — the smaller carriers are getting hit the hardest. Politically, I'd expect a decrease in the cooperation between trade associations in Washington, as market share and Wall Street perspectives supplant trucking and transportation issues.
Finally, even through this most challenging 2014 peak trucking season, many shippers and brokers still don't seem to be getting the message, that the cheese was moved. Too often, we see carrier management strategies from 2009-2013. Those times are gone. Today's market tells us something very different, and requires approaches like 2003-2006: secure capacity; compete against other shippers and brokers to get/keep the carriers committed; think long term, and big picture. It's time to build sustaining relationships that can scale. There's still time to save future orders, improve on-time performance, and keep inventories tight. The trick is to look away from the pricing spreadsheets, shooting for cost savings against the most recent bids.
Jeffrey Tucker, President and CEO, Tucker Company Worldwide