• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile

  • CORONAVIRUS
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • REGIONS
    • Asia Pacific
    • Canada
    • China
    • Europe
    • Latin America
    • Middle East/Africa
    • North America
  • THINK TANK
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » Nationwide Capacity Crunch Shows U.S. Trucking Industry in Crisis

Nationwide Capacity Crunch Shows U.S. Trucking Industry in Crisis

Nationwide Capacity Crunch Shows U.S. Trucking Industry in Crisis
May 10, 2019
Dan Clark, SCB Contributor

The United States is experiencing a capacity crisis — with roughly 10 loads to be shipped for every easily accessible truck — and shippers are scrambling to be able to service their customers without breaking the bank on every shipment. 

This doesn’t mean that there isn’t capacity available, however. What it means is that shippers need new ways to find and book available capacity without wasting hours on the phone with carriers. 

We know that there is available capacity out there. It’s a fact that many fleets are running thousands of miles empty on return journeys when they could be picking up backhaul freight. Many truckload carriers have capacity to fill as well, but finding the freight opportunities can be just as difficult and time consuming for carriers as it is for shippers to locate capacity. The challenge is in forming connections with as many different potential partners as possible and being able to access them in a quick and efficient manner.

The solution lies in truckload spot markets powered by vast logistics communities. The more supply chain companies within the community, the more potential opportunities for collaboration. These communities act as a single source for shippers and brokers to access a huge network of trucks that can provide attractive rates and a new, valuable source for truckload capacity. By leveraging a truckload spot market, shippers and brokers can quickly make connections to carriers and fleets with available capacity.

The concept of truckload spot markets, however, is nothing new for our industry. They’ve failed to address the capacity crisis in the past because there hasn’t been a “sticky factor” to keep shippers and carriers engaged with the system. If companies aren’t living and breathing the truckload spot market every day, it’s unlikely they will leverage it when potential opportunities arise.

A sticky factor that works is having the truckload spot market built directly on top of a transportation management system (TMS). When shippers are living in a TMS every day, it’s natural for them to pivot onto a spot market that’s built alongside their negotiated rates. When they have a shipment that isn’t satisfactorily covered by a negotiated rate, they can query the truckload spot market to receive back quotes on their freight and continue through their TMS to book that rate. This helps both carriers and fleets fill empty trailers and shippers to battle the capacity crisis.

Shippers and brokers who are looking to find available truckload capacity should leverage a truckload spot market built upon an ecosystem of dedicated truckload carriers. This ecosystem will provide more rates for side-by-side comparison so that the most attractive rate can be booked every time. Instead of calling and emailing known carrier partners to ask for rates, a process which is inefficient and time consuming, companies can leverage truckload spot markets to quickly connect them with available capacity.

The Outlook

The capacity crisis is likely to worsen over the next several years. Baby Boomers who currently make up the majority of truck drivers will continue to reach retirement age and customer expectations will increase alongside the popularity of e-commerce. 

It’s up to individual companies to battle the capacity crisis. Some will expand their teams to accommodate increasingly complex logistics and others will leverage technology in conjunction with truckload spot markets to supplement their negotiated rates. 

Dan Clark is president and founder of Kuebix.

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED VIDEOS

Logistics Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage Logistics Outsourcing LTL/Truckload Services Transportation & Distribution Transportation Management North America
KEYWORDS Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage LTL/Truckload Services Transportation & Distribution Transportation Management
  • Related Articles

    Trucking Condition Index Shows Tightening in Hauling Capacity

    The Key to the Trucking Capacity Crunch and Driver Shortage: Shippers

    Is Higher Pay the Answer to Trucking Capacity Crunch?

  • Related Events

    How Every Shipper Can Benefit from Modern Drop-and-Hook: Four ways to get nationwide, flexible, and quality drop capacity with unparalleled visibility

  • Related Directories

    Kuebix

Dan Clark, SCB Contributor

Time for TMS: More Shoppers Demand Real-Time Shipment Visibility

More from this author

Wake up to Coronavirus Updates and the latest Supply Chain News!

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter

Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

Popular Stories

  • Coronavirus-watch-Armada

    Virus Update: Biden Unveils National Strategy; Pfizer Says It’s Willing to Sell Vaccine to States

    Coronavirus
  • Car Industry

    A Year of Poor Planning Led to Carmakers’ Massive Chip Shortage

    Technology
  • Can Employers Require Employees to Get the COVID-19 Vaccine? Part 1

    Watch: Can Employers Require Employees to Get the COVID-19 Vaccine? Part 1

    Coronavirus
  • U.S. Vaccine Rollout Hindered by Faulty Coordination, Messaging

    WHO Fumes at Western Drugmakers As China Fills Vaccine Void

    Coronavirus
  • COVID-19 Vaccine

    Vaccine Disparities Raise Alarm as COVID-19 Variants Multiply

    Coronavirus

Digital Edition

Scb home issue 27

2020 Supply Chain Innovator of the Year

VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

Case Studies

  • LSP Saves Customer $1.5 Million a Year With MPO Global Inbound Management

  • Auto Supplier Wows Key Client Using riskmethods Supply Chain Savvy

  • Integrating Shipping and Compliance Saves Conglomerate Millions

  • How a Consumer Goods Giant Upped Its On-Time Delivery Performance

  • LSP Wows Global Client, Quickly Advances to Become End-to-End Provider

Visit Our Sponsors

6 River Systems ArcBest Armada
aThingz BluJay Burris Logistics
DSC Logistics DCSA (Digital Container Shipping Association) DHL Resilience360
Genpact GEP Honeywell Intelligrated
Infor Logility Magnitude Software
MPO Old Dominion Oliver Wight
OpenSky Ports America Purolator
QAD Precision Red Classic Riskmethods
TGW Systems Transportation Insights Watson Land Company
Westfalia Technologies Workjam Yang Ming
  • More From SCB
    • Featured Content
    • Video Library
    • Think Tank Blog
    • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
    • Whitepapers
    • Webinars
  • Digital Offerings
    • Digital Issue
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Your Subscription
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Events Calendar
    • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
    • Supplier Directory
    • Case Study Showcase
    • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
    • 100 Great Partners Form
  • SCB Corporate
    • Advertise on SCB.COM
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • Data Sharing Opt-Out

All content copyright © 2016 - 2018 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing