Nearshoring, electrification and freight fraud among the current trends and challenges facing North American truckload transportation
WESTMINSTER, Colo., Aug. 7, 2024 - Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB) has released "The Road Ahead: Key Trends and Capabilities Shaping the North American Freight Transportation Market," a Transporeon report identifying key developments impacting the future of the truckload transportation sector in North America.
The report analyzes market trends and data based on survey responses from Indago supply chain research community members as well as the Transporeon shipper and carrier community. Due to the current supply surplus in the North American truckload transportation market, the report discusses technology solutions to address the challenges faced by transportation and logistics stakeholders.
Key highlights of the report are the growing importance of Mexico as a source of U.S. imports, sustainability and the electrification of trucking, California's AB5 bill and freight fraud:
Market Challenges: The current state of North America's truckload sector — low demand and ample capacity — have created challenges for carriers. The report highlights the complexity of demand sources contributing to a decline in trucking load requests and discusses the necessary capabilities to compete in the rapidly evolving truckload market.
Nearshoring: Driven by the combination of global geopolitical volatility and sustainable emissions goals, the continuing growth of nearshoring is identified as a key trend for truckload-related businesses. As Mexico surpasses China as the leading source of goods imported into the U.S., 88% of small to medium-size supply chain businesses plan to migrate partially to suppliers closer to the U.S., while 45% plan to switch all of them (Capterra). The report examines how these changes may affect the truckload transportation market.
Freight Fraud: Freight fraud is a growing risk in the truckload sector, with CargoNet reporting a 59% increase in cargo theft in Q3 2023 compared to Q3 2022. An April 2024 survey found that 48% of respondents experienced cargo theft or freight fraud in the past year. Shippers, carriers and logistics service providers (LSPs) are advised to consider and prevent freight fraud. The report outlines steps to reduce its likelihood.
Sustainability and Electric Vehicles: New emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks at both state and federal levels are accelerating the switch to more emissions-friendly vehicles, with forensic carbon accounting and measurement a potential legal necessity for shippers and carriers. Hurdles such as mileage range and charging infrastructure are among the limitations preventing fleets from greater adoption of electric vehicles.
The Implications of California's AB5: Driver shortage is an ongoing challenge for carriers and LSPs, adding to the cost burden of enterprises as they bid to retain experienced and valuable driver support. Costs have the potential to rise further following the enactment of AB5 in California, which mandates reclassifying many independent contractor drivers as employees, requiring trucking companies to pay additional benefits and payroll taxes. The possibility of similar legislation spreading to other states could further exacerbate these challenges.
Responding Intelligently and Effectively to Whatever Happens Down the Road
"The Road Ahead: Key Trends and Capabilities Shaping the North American Freight Transportation Market" highlights solutions to help overcome the obstacles faced by the transportation industry. This includes enhanced collaboration via transportation management platforms, real-time freight visibility to guard against freight fraud, and digital tools to speed up and streamline processes.
"We are confident this report will be a valuable resource for shippers and carriers at a time when the industry acknowledges it has been bumping along the bottom for a long period," said Ed Moran, managing director, Americas, Transporeon. "By recognizing important trends and identifying how such trends might support business growth, all parties can proactively exploit collaborative digital tools that meet the demands of shippers and carriers alike."
To access "The Road Ahead: Key Trends and Capabilities Shaping the North American Freight Transportation Market" report, visit: https://www.transporeon.com/en_US/reports/the-road-ahead
About Transporeon
At Transporeon, a Trimble Company, our mission is to bring transportation in sync with the world. We power the largest global freight network of more than 1,400 shippers and retailers and more than 150,000 carriers and logistics service providers. Every day they execute more than 110,000 transports on our platform and book more than 100,000 dock-appointments for loading and unloading. In the course of one year, roughly $59bn in freight is being processed on our platform.
Our leading transportation management platform connects all actors along the supply chain. It facilitates collaboration between the different parties, helps to automate manual processes and provides valuable real-time insights. The modular Application Hubs solve specific logistics challenges and range from freight sourcing over transport execution and dock and yard management to freight audit and payment. Data hubs provide insights into logistics operations, market developments and carbon emissions, next to ensuring transparency in the supply chain through visibility. Our platform works across all geographies and all modes of transportation, empowering logistics teams to move, manage and monitor freight.
Transporeon is headquartered in Ulm, Germany, and maintains 18 offices around the globe with over 1,400 employees across 27 countries. For more information, visit: www.transporeon.com.
About Trimble
Trimble is transforming the ways people move, build and live. Core technologies in positioning, modeling and data analytics connect the digital and physical worlds to improve our customers' productivity, quality, safety, transparency and sustainability. For more information about Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB), visit: www.trimble.com.
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