Carrier Direct Report: What to Expect In Freight for 2014 and beyond

CarrierDirect, a leading strategic advisory firm in the transport and logistics industry, has released its US domestic freight market perspective covering the trends of 2014 and what to expect in the months ahead.

The report which is released every six months, has quickly grown to become a widely read perspective on the US domestic freight industry, frequently being featured by industry analysts and freight publications.

Halfway through 2014, CarrierDirect is seeing strong signs of life in the freight industry following a difficult start to the year due to the Polar Vortex. Strong freight levels in Q2 have challenged many trucking companies to develop new plans to cope with increased demand for their services.

Meanwhile, the pool of qualified drivers has fallen short of demand and the effects from last year’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) changes have created new hurdles to overcome. 

Joel Clum, President of CarrierDirect said: “Despite the challenges we’re really seeing the pendulum swing back into favour of the carrier.

“Carriers are now in a place where they are choosing the shippers and 3PLs they want to do business with based on factors that go outside just the amount of freight they offer, looking more towards profitability and how little stress the customer puts on their operations, people and drivers.”

As economic growth continues to put favour back towards transportation providers, CarrierDirect expects trucking companies to seize the opportunity to invest in new technology and pricing changes. 

“We’re standing on the edge of a sweeping reform in technology that will allow carriers to operate more efficiently, particularly in less-than truckload shipments, and price their services according to those they provide.” Clum added.

Some of the trends CarrierDirect expects to play out include:

1. Web services-enabled dynamic pricing in the less-than-truckload sector that will allow transport companies like Con-way Freight, UPS Freight, FedEx Freight and others to charge more appropriately for their services based on space taken up by shipments and the needs of their networks
2. Privately held logistics companies like Coyote, FreightQuote and Worldwide Express continuing to set the tone for best practices in the freight brokerage industry
3. Asset-based trucking companies such as Swift Transportation, Werner and Estes-Express Lines laying the foundation to become leading third-party logistics providers alongside their asset-based divisions
4. Emergence of new tech-focused entrants to the domestic freight marketplace who are keen to solve data-intensive problems in the antiquated trucking industry
5. Carriers better utilising third-party logistics companies who resell less-than-truckload services, such as an Echo Global Logistics, as a complement to their salesforce rather than a competitor

CarrierDirect is a leading advisory firm to freight carriers and third-party logistics companies. For more information, visit http://carrierdirect.co/our-perspectives/expect-freight-2h14-beyond/