TRUCKERS: WHAT ARE YOUR GREATEST CHALLENGES?
The cost of doing business remains the biggest challenge for trucking companies, but the pain inflicted by various cost components has shifted. In 2022, costs related to drivers were far and away the biggest pain point, cited by 82% of respondents. This year, while that challenge still tops the list, it does so by a smaller margin: 66% of respondents cite driver-related costs as a major challenge. Have trucking companies simply adjusted to the fact that they need to pay drivers more? Other expenses pose challenges for more trucking companies than they did one year ago. Inflation makes rising equipment costs a problem for 58% of trucking respondents, compared with 38% in 2022. And anyone who checks the price of diesel while out driving understands that the cost of fuel remains a major challenge, identified by just over half of respondents this year. On the other hand, only 13% of truckers in our survey are worried about their ability to provide capacity this year, compared with 46% in 2022, when there was more demand for space on trucks.
66% 58% 52% 51% 37% 31% 31% 30% 27% 25% 13% 13%
Driver-related costs Rising equipment costs Insurance costs and liabilities Fuel costs Price pressure from customers/competitors Supply chain disruption
Sustainability requirements Regulations and compliance
Infrastructure concerns Technology investment Demand for faster deliveries (Amazon eect) Providing capacity Finding and retaining customers Competition (intermodal, pooling, brokers) Cargo theft/security
9% 7% 7%
SHIPPERS: WHAT ARE YOUR GREATEST CHALLENGES?
Many shippers still face challenges when it comes to reducing transportation costs. But with freight rates lower today than one year ago, cost is a problem for fewer respondents—70% this year, versus 84% in 2022. Many other areas also pose less of a challenge than they did one year ago, including the search for capacity (cited by 30% of respondents this year vs. 52% last year), the ability to e¢ciently match product supply and demand (20% this year vs. 35% last year), and a surge in ecommerce volume (3% this year vs. 14% last year). Shippers do feel a good deal more pressure these days to lower the prices of their products, a challenge cited by 51% of shipper respondents this year compared with only 30% in 2022. As inflation makes consumers more cautious, their frugal impulses flow up the supply chain to retailers, brand owners, and suppliers.
70% 51% 37% 30% 20% 20% 12% 11%
Reducing transport costs
Price pressure from customers/competition
Customer service
Finding capacity
Matching supply to demand e¢ciently
Increasing insurance costs and liabilities
Cargo theft/security
Environmental, regulatory, and security compliance
7% 6% 3%
Worker safety
Migrating to intermodal and/or rail solutions
Ecommerce volume surge
44 Inbound Logistics • September 2023
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