As a follow-up of the National Transportation Week, which was held as usual on May 15-21, a survey was conducted by Truckstop, the purpose of which was to inform people about cargo transportation problems and trends.
This survey practically looked at the current situation, the ups and downs of the industry under the effect of multiple factors, including geopolitical, economic, and others. It ought to be noted that the survey efficiently revealed quite significant problems and positive perspectives in the sector of trucking.
In the process of the survey, it was found out that logistic companies are now encountering a huge amount of various obstacles in the course of their daily activity, as based on the results 51% of truckers, who participated in the survey, are eager to choose another profession for themselves in the course of the following year, although more than 30% of them are earning from 50% to 74% more dough then earlier. So, surprisingly in this case money is not the factor anymore.
“The cargo transportation sector works based on so-called cycles, meaning first you innovate and then you have to settle the challenges, which are permanent companions of anything new, however, we have to adapt to make sure our clients have everything they require to successfully pass through the mentioned cycles, with all their ups and downs and receive a stable and sufficient income,” told us one of the top managers of HMD Trucking (https://www.hmdtrucking.com). “For that we constantly need to work out a number of solutions to make the life of ordinary truckers easier and save their time, for time is money, as you know.”
In order to stay highly efficient in the current economic and political environment, we have to get affordable and simple solutions, which would however really help make businesses go ahead no matter what. Everything in the industry basically falls within this concept from the rates, equally suitable for customers and vendors, payment delays (69% of those polled indicated that factoring is probably the best way to receive payment), etc. Most modern trucking companies take enough care to provide the truckers with devices and solutions that help to avoid wasting time, earn more profit, and do their business the way they like.
There are some other results of the survey which clearly indicate that almost 100% of the respondents think that the priorities now are additional investments in the infrastructure, which make things run more smoothly. Some of the potential areas for investments mentioned by them are:
- Improvement of the traffic regulation on the highways, which will help to deliver cargo quicker – 32% of respondents
- Training new drivers, applying special internship training programs for young drivers – 28% of respondents
- General improvement of infrastructure at the roads of various levels – 35% of respondents
Probably one of the most interesting and promising developments in this area are various apps for drivers, for example, those that keep them informed about the situation on the roads, calculate the time of delivery and fuel consumption efficiency, for example, based on the innovative
AI solutions. User-friendly interfaces and functionality combined with innovative AI solutions are exactly what is needed to make the truckers competitive and ensure them a steady cash flow. That is especially true in light of current fluctuations in the spot market and specifically the trucking sector’s cyclical dynamics.
A couple of words about the methodology used for the survey. It was held among truck drivers at the age of 21, working both individually or hired by companies doing the shipping of cargoes. The period of the survey was from February 24 2022 till February 28 2022.
In the end, we can say that although many of the key findings might seem quite obvious, still sometimes we have to confirm the most obvious and clear facts, to draw a baseline for future studies and to have a reference for the surveys in the adjacent sectors.
