Issues Facing the North American Trucking Industry

Issues Facing the North American Trucking Industry
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Issues Facing the North American Trucking Industry
The major issues facing the trucking industry in North America include the economy, fuel prices, Compliance, Safety, and Accountability (CSA) PROGRAM, Congestion, Tort reforms, driver shortage, among others. These issues are significant because they have a direct impact on the industry with regards to the cost and easy of doing business. Much of the data that is used to highlight these issues is provided by the American Transport Research Institute, which conducts research in the transport sector to promote “a safe, efficient, and viable transport system,” particularly in the trucking industry.
The trucking industry is important to the economy of the three nations of North America (U.S.A., Canada, and Mexico), but more especially to the U.S. where it is responsible for transporting over 70 percent of all cargo transported annually. This percentage is equivalent to about $670 billion worth of retail and manufacturing goods transported in the country. When the $295 billion and $195.6 billion in truck trade with Canada and Mexico respectively is added, it becomes clear that truck traffic disruption will have a big negative impact on the economies of the three countries (U.S. Dept. of Transportation, 2013).
Issues of Concern
1 The Economy
Since 2009, the economy has been ranked among the most pressing issues that the trucking industry has to deal with from time to time (Heavy Duty Trucking, 2012). When the economy slows down, the trucking industry is the first sector of the economy to be affected as orders and purchases for good and international shipments reduces. According to the U.S. Bureau of Statics, the first signs of an economic downturn are seen in the trucking industry as tenders and contracts to haul goods dry up due to low volumes of traded goods. Indeed, many small scale trucking companies have gone out of business since 2009 as a result of economic global recession that began in late 2007. Economic crises often lead to high costs of operating businesses, which in turn necessitates increased regulations to avoid total economic collapse. The end effect of a slow economy is the reduction of domestic demand for goods, which has a direct impact on the trucking industry by reducing the demand for hauling services.
A number of strategies have been proposed to address economic problems in the trucking industry. First, there is a need to encourage policies that will accelerate economic recovery and boost the trucking industry by increasing the demand for freight services to transport goods. Economic recovery benefits the trucking industry directly and indirectly. Directly, it increases the volume of trade, which requires more transportation services to move industrial products as well as goods shipped from foreign countries. Indirectly, it increases consumer spendin...