Inbound Logistics | September 2024

tru20ck24ING perspectives M otor carriers are feeling squeezed these days. The market for transportation has been soft, pushing freight rates downward. And to cap it off, pundits and trucking industry experts aren’t sure when that situation will change. the early phase of the post-COVID era, but shippers still cite transportation costs as a major challenge. Many also name price as one of the most important things they consider when choosing a trucking company, making that factor slightly more crucial to the partnership than reliability or capacity. These are just a few of the insights you’ll find in In its annual market report, Inbound Logistics looks at the road ahead for the trucking sector, and explores the issues of greatest concern to carriers and shippers. By merrill douglas

But even as trucking firms have been forced to charge their customers less per mile, they need more income to maintain their operations. Over the past year, truckers have been paying more for many essentials, such as equipment, insurance, interest on loans, and, at least until recently, fuel. Shippers also worry about expenses. The rates they pay to put freight on the road might be lower than in

Inbound Logistics ’ 2024 Trucking Perspectives report. Each year, we ask both truckers and shippers to tell us what impact current conditions are having on their businesses, and how they are responding. In the following pages, you’ll see how things stand with the industry in 2024.

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