A new report from Breakthrough found that extreme weather is the top challenge identified by transportation professionals in 2024. 

Breakthrough surveyed 500 transportation leaders, shippers, and carriers on an array of their priorities. Of those, 39% said that extreme weather events like floods, hurricanes, droughts, and tornadoes have posed the biggest challenge to their networks, the most of any other category. The second most prominent challenge was freight market contraction at 36%, followed by emissions reduction goals and regulations at 33%. 

"It makes sense," the 2024 State of Transportation report reads. "A months-long drought plaguing the Panama Canal, intensifying winter weather across the U.S., unprecedented flooding from atmospheric rivers in California, and continued fallout from a highly active hurricane season have already contributed to disruptions in 2024."

This marked a shift from the previous year's survey, when inflationary pressures had volatile diesel fuel prices listed as the top challenge at 51%, followed by limited freight capacity at 37%, and driver shortages at 36%. Transportation professionals were more focused on reducing costs to overcome shifting diesel prices in 2023, whereas the chief concerns now center around climate-related disruptions, as well as the need for sustainability measures to increase fuel efficiency and cut emissions.