Trucking and the transportation of goods is one of the oldest industries in the world, and few consumers truly understand the effect changes in the trucking industry have on their day-to-day lives. In an age where e-commerce and online shopping has established a stronghold in the consumer market, it is easy to forget that without trucking, none of those things are possible. This is why it is important to understand how trends and changes in the trucking industry directly affect everyone who benefits from its services.
How the Growth of E-commerce Affects the Trucking Industry
When Amazon announced its two new locations in Arlington, VA and Long Island, New York, it was overlooked by many that this was followed closely by an announcement that Amazon would be launching its own trucking division in order to support its rapidly growing e-commerce platform. This announcement showcases the high demand for trucking and transportation support that e-commerce companies desperately need. As more and more consumers turn to online shopping for their daily needs, it is important to remember that those goods still need to be transported. The trucking industry is an integral part of supporting that demand.
The growth of e-commerce has also led to a number of distributors, like Amazon, increasing their number of locations throughout the country. This has led to an overall shorter distance per day for truck drivers, and has allowed trucking companies to provide their employees with better hours, better pay, and more benefits including an increased number of day drive shifts rather than overnight and long-term hauls.
Technology Improvements in Trucks and Equipment
With growing technology affecting every industry in the world, it is no surprise that the trucking industry has been subject to a wide array of improvements with the expansion of technology in the past several years. 2020 may be the year that we see a majority of these advancements come to a head, as the IAA Hannover, arguably the most influential commercial vehicle trade show in the world, will take place in Germany in the fall of 2020. Here the largest OEM suppliers, engineers, and commercial vehicle companies will work to bring the newest and greatest technologies to the table. These technologies could include autonomous function in commercial vehicles, electric commercial vehicles, and even greater advancements in truck safety systems.
As technology gears to improve the process flow in the trucking industry, jobs in the transportation field are becoming more and more appealing to an up and coming workforce. Features like automatic time logs and tracking aim to improve the quality of life and work experience for truck drivers, and more and more industry workers are beginning to embrace them. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts a five percent growth in trucking industry employment over the next several years, making it one of the industries that is fortunate to be benefiting from the expansion of technology.
What to Expect in Trucking
We can expect to see a continued growth in the trucking industry throughout 2020 as the demand for the transportation of consumer goods continues to rise. R&A Trucking Company continues to evolve with the latest trends, and is readily available to address the growing need for trucking and logistics services.
You know that when you order a package, it doesn’t normally get loaded onto a truck outside your seller’s door and brought directly to yours. There’s a chain of shorter trips between Point A and Point B. But what you may not know is what those steps are and what they’re called. The first and last part of your package’s journey – its trip to and from the railroad depot or shipyard – is trucking. When a trip uses a container truck, that trip is known in logistics as drayage.
Types of Drayage Service
If you start looking into drayage rates for your business, here’s a brief list of terms you might come across:
- Door-to-door: The trucker picks up your goods from the seller and drives them to you.
- Inter-carrier: The trucker picks up goods from one carrier’s warehouse or shipping hub and brings them to another’s. The two carriers may have different shipping networks or use different forms of transport.
- Intra-carrier: A single carrier uses a drayage service to bring goods between two shipping hubs they own.
- Shuttle: A warehouse is overcrowded or unsuitable, so a trucker brings goods from there to a temporary stopping point.
- Pier: A specific name for moving goods from a railroad depot by highway to a pier.
Why You Might Need It
You know what the country’s infrastructure looks like – the vast network of railroads, highways, and air and sea shipping routes. But all of that infrastructure is useless unless you can get your goods to and from its hubs. Drayage service is contract-driven and flexible, so it gets your orders where you need them, when you need them.
Next time you need drayage services, contact R&A Trucking. R&A Trucking provides drayage services to and from the port or local rail ramp. R&A Trucking vigilantly manages freight to ensure timely service and control costs.
