Transport Capital Partners’ (TCP) industry survey sees a shortage of capacity and lack of qualified drivers changing the dynamics of freight. Trends in capacity and rates are also contributing to a decline in broker freight.
Based on stories of shippers unable to find enough trucks, the trade press is alive with news of a capacity crunch. But, is the size of this crunch being overstated? Are we hearing about the same freight marketed to many carriers?
TCP Partner and survey leader, Richard Mikes states, “In the latest TCP survey, we decided to approach the issue from a slightly different angle: if stories of a capacity crunch are true, is freight being left on the shipper’s dock?”
Nearly three-fourths of carriers responded that they “think” freight is sitting on the shipper’s dock. This lack of capacity comes as the industry faces growing volumes but a shortage of qualified drivers. Additionally, rising costs and lowered driver and truck efficiency due to HOS are also contributing to the problem.
Renegotiating Assessorials LikelyThe fourth-quarter TCP survey found that, in every category, carriers are expecting to renegotiate accessorials. More than any other accessorial, 68% of carriers expect to renegotiate detention times. This is almost double the number from a year ago.
“Recent changes in Hours of Service have made detention times a hot button on driver efficiency and equipment efficiency. Unfortunately, it looks like larger carriers are expecting to re-negotiate more than their smaller competitors,” comments Lana Batts, TCP Partner.
Meanwhile, the trend of carriers using less broker freight services continues. Seventy-six percent of carriers indicated they intend to use less broker freight. Richard Mikes observes, “This is a logical fall out from tighter capacity and rising rates, and a consistent trend since the end of the great recession.”
