Truckload shipping plays a critical role in today’s supply chain, and full truckload shipping continues to be one of the most common ways that billions of dollars of merchandise travel throughout the United States every single day. While truckload shipping is important to the world’s economy, and it continues to be a major driving force behind commerce, it can also be very challenging when it comes to operations, pricing, and the logistics managers who manage them.
This article will cover many of the challenges that are currently being faced by truckload shipping and how those challenges can affect the financial success of your business.
Capacity Constraints and Driver Shortages
The trucking industry just can’t escape its driver shortage, and honestly, it’s changing how logistics works for everyone. According to the American Trucking Associations, there’s around 80,000-plus driver shortage in recent years. So, when shipping season hits its peak, finding a truck feels like hunting for a needle in a haystack. This isn’t some one-off problem, either. Older drivers are retiring, getting a license isn’t easy, and let’s face it, life on the road doesn’t really appeal to most young people these days.
For shippers, this turns into a real mess. When there aren’t enough trucks, carriers hold all the cards. They get to pick the best loads and the least profitable routes? Those get ignored. If you’re trying to move goods during the holidays or harvest time, good luck—truck space disappears fast. The fallout? Delays, last-minute scrambles to find anyone with an available rig, and rates that just keep climbing. If a company doesn’t plan or keep solid relationships with carriers, it ends up waiting while its competitors’ shipments get out the door first.
Rising Freight Costs and Rate Volatility
The cost for truckload shipping is not often constant. Diesel price changes, higher driver wages, equipment maintenance costs, and insurance costs are causes of rate volatility. These factors contribute to the difficulty for companies in accurately forecasting shipping costs.
Spot rates, especially, can increase dramatically when demand is high or capacity is tight. This volatility has implications for budgeting and long-term financial planning. Those who depend largely on last-minute bookings tend to be hit hardest, since they have the least bargaining power to secure steady prices.
Transit Time Delays and Reliability Issues
Even the best shipments are subject to reliability issues in truckload shipping. Disruptions of the weather are some of the most frequent delays — winter storms, hurricanes, or wildfire smoke can close major freight corridors for days. Unlike small package shipments, which have multiple routing options, full truckload shipping does not have much flexibility to reroute around problems.
Equipment failures add another twist of uncertainty — a refrigerated trailer breakdown or a tire blowout can add 12 to 24 hours to transit times. The real frustration arises from the communication gaps. After the truck leaves the dock, many shippers find it difficult to get real-time updates, which prevent them from proactively informing customers of delays – until it’s too late.
Load Matching and Empty Miles
In the background of truckload shipping is a massive inefficiency: empty miles. Trucks frequently make long empty trips, often hundreds of miles, after delivering a load as they run to pick up their next load, consuming fuel and driver hours. Industry estimates put the share of empty miles at between 20 and 35 per cent, which translates into lost productivity worth billions.
This occurs because freight lanes are seldom symmetrical. Far more product moves from manufacturing centers to distribution centers than the other way around, leading to regional imbalances. A carrier may do well finding loads from Los Angeles to Dallas, but not finding any back freight, and for the driver, that means traveling with an empty load or making substantially lower wages.
For shippers, that translates to higher costs — carriers must cover the cost of empty miles through pricing. Technology platforms are enhancing the matching of loads, but it continues to be an issue, especially in obscure lanes or for specialized equipment such as refrigerated or flatbed trailers.
Cargo Damage and Freight Handling Risks
Load damage continues to be an issue in truckload shipping, with claims for a wide range of damage from a small blemish on a product to a total loss of cargo. Loading and unloading are the most dangerous times — forklifts can punch through pallets, straps can move around in transit, and temperature-sensitive products can be compromised by temperature changes. Unlike LTL, truckload freight is not broken up into smaller shipments; it moves as a full truckload shipment, and the freight is generally not transferred between trailers during transit.
The claims procedure adds insult to injury. Documentation is rigorous, and establishing liability among the shipper, carrier, or receiver can take months. Many shippers never realize their insurance coverage has gaps until they have filed a claim. Prevention depends on properly securing loads, good packaging, and clear instructions on product handling. However, at the end of the day, some damage is inevitable.
Wrapping Up
Truckload shipping challenges are interrelated and won’t fade away anytime soon. But having the knowledge of these issues and selecting the right partner can help tremendously. At Roadies Inc, a most trusted shipping company in California, our focus is on helping shippers navigate these challenges with reliable capacity, transparent pricing, and real-time tracking. With our vast carrier network and specialized team, we take the hassle out of traditional truckload shipping. Need dependable, no-worry logistics? Reach out to Roadies Inc today for a free quote on shipping.
FAQs
Is truckload shipping the same as full truckload shipping?
Yes, both terms refer to the same shipping mode where the whole truck is allocated to one shipment. In this method, the shipment goes without the truck space being shared with other freight.
What is FTL and LTL?
FTL (Full Truckload) ships one customer’s freight in a dedicated truck. On the other hand, LTL (Less Than Truckload) combines multiple shipments from different shippers in one trailer.
How much does it cost to ship a full truckload?
There is no set price for full truckload shipping as it depends on various factors such as mileage, fuel costs, demand for a particular lane, the type of equipment used, and the time of year.
What’s the difference between spot rates and contract rates?
Contract rates are a set of fixed rates at which shippers and carriers have agreed to operate for regular shipping lanes over a certain period. On the other hand, spot rates are market-driven prices that change every day and, during times of insufficient capacity, can be extremely high.
