TRUCKERS: WHAT IS YOUR OPERATING AREA?
SHIPPERS: WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN CHOOSING A MOTOR CARRIER?
U.S. only
88% 87% 61% 52% 47% 42% 20%
Reliability Price Customer service Coverage Capacity Safety Sustainability
39%
61%
North America
In 2022, when shippers selected motor carriers, reliability counted even more than price. Eighty- nine percent of shippers said that a trucking company’s tendency to deliver on its promises was a crucial factor, vs. 80% who named price. This year—with freight rates down but many other operating costs inflicting pain—reliability and price are practically tied, 88% to 87%. The quality of a carrier’s customer service remains important, but not quite as much as last year: 61% of shippers mention it as a significant factor, vs. 72% in 2022. But another factor, coverage, has grown a great deal more important, jumping from 38% in 2022 to 52% this year. As some parts of the United States lose population, and other areas grow, companies are re-engineering supply chains to make sure they can reach their customers. One factor that shippers are less likely to consider when choosing among motor carriers this year is capacity. Forty-seven percent of shippers cite that as a factor, compared with 54% in 2022. As we’ve seen, most shippers this year believe that the market oers plenty of space for their loads, and truckers are confident they can provide that space.
The proportion of trucking companies that serve all of North America, rather than just the United States, reached a peak in 2021, when 70% of respondents said they covered the whole continent. That number slipped a bit, to 68%, in 2022 and has dropped even further this year, to 61%. Have steeper operating costs spurred more carriers to scale back their coverage?
TRUCKERS: DO YOU PROVIDE GLOBAL SERVICES BEYOND NORTH AMERICA?
TRUCKERS: WHAT CERTIFICATIONS DO YOU HOLD?
88% 64% 40% 25% 22% 22% 18% 3%
SmartWay HazMat C-TPAT Free and Secure Trade (FAST) ISO Partners in Protection (PIP) ACC Responsible Care None
Yes
37%
63%
With its dual goals of operational sustainability and freight transportation e¢ciency, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) SmartWay certification program remains attractive to many trucking companies. This year, 88% of trucking companies in the survey are SmartWay members. After SmartWay, the certification that trucking companies most likely hold is one that allows them to haul hazardous materials. In 2023, 64% of trucking respondents are hazmat certified. As noted previously, the percentage of carriers whose networks cover all of North America, rather than just the United States, has been falling (although the proportion that provide service beyond North America has risen in the past year). So it makes sense that fewer trucking companies this year hold certifications to speed freight transportation across international borders. In 2022, 54% of respondents were certified by the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT). In 2023, that number is only 40%. Similarly, the portion of respondents certified by the Free and Secure Trade (FAST) program fell from 30% in 2022 to 25% in 2023, and participation in Canada’s Partners in Protection (PIP) program dropped from 25% to 22%.
No
Trucking companies with logistics divisions have the option of provid- ing services beyond North America. The percentage of companies that oered such global services dropped from 32% in 2021 to 26% in 2022. This year, intercontinental services have rebounded, with 37% of trucking respondents indicating that they pro- vide services beyond the continent.
46 Inbound Logistics • September 2023
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