The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) and the Owner-Operator Independent Driver Association (OOIDA) Foundation released important research on impacts that the Covid-19 pandemic is having on all aspects of trucking operations, including deliveries, travel times, detention and truck parking. Most importantly, the research provides recommendations and guidance on future strategies should another national disaster strike.
The trucking industry is one of the most critical and resilient sectors of the US economy. In times of both natural and man-made events and disasters, the trucking industry is heavily relied upon to deliver critical supplies, often directly into the sphere of danger. Recently, the industry played a lead role in emergency response during hurricanes such as Katrina, Rita, Irma, and Harvey – where trucks laden with food, water, blankets, and generators raced into the epicenter of the storms. The trucking industry has been equally critical during localized events such as flooding, wildfires, and tornados.
Key findings include:
- Long-haul trips are down considerably as container imports at ports dried up. At the same time, local trips under 100 miles increased by more than 100 percent.
(ATRI and OOIDA Foundation COVID-19 Impacts on the Trucking Industry)
- While certain segments of the industry, such as medical devices, perishable foods, and paper products, saw solid COVID-related increases in truck traffic – nearly 50 percent of respondents described freight levels as “somewhat” to “much” lower due to COVID. Given all the media attention on consumer panic-buying, approximately 45 percent of respondents described consumer demand as “somewhat higher” to “much higher” during the pandemic. Only 16 percent described it as “much lower,” and these respondents are likely moving the numerous “non-essential” items that, in many stores, are cordoned off from consumer purchasing.
(ATRI and OOIDA Foundation COVID-19 Impacts on the Trucking Industry)
- Nearly 70 percent of specialized and tank truck operations were negatively impacted. In nearly every instance, smaller fleets reported greater negative impacts than larger fleets.
(ATRI and OOIDA Foundation COVID-19 Impacts on the Trucking Industry)
- More than 40 percent of respondents said that truck parking was not any worse due to the Covid pandemic, but by fleet size, the larger fleets did describe truck parking as more difficult to find during the pandemic.
(ATRI and OOIDA Foundation COVID-19 Impacts on the Trucking Industry)
It must be noted that to accommodate truck drivers during this pandemic New York City has created two temporary FREE overnight parking facilities
- The research confirmed that driver detention generally did not change due to Covid-19; however, owner-operators and small fleets experienced much worse detention delays relative to larger fleets.
- In terms of disaster planning, almost 80 percent of owner-operators and small fleets do not have any plan in place for managing operations during natural disasters. This is in stark contrast to fleets with over 1,000 trucks, where 70 percent of respondents had a disaster response plan in place. One important role for both government and industry associations is to improve industry preparedness for owner-operators and small to medium fleets.
- The trucking industry generally has a favorable attitude towards state and federal responses, policies, and programs set up to address the pandemic, with the federal response viewed as more favorable than the state responses. It is important to deep into the reason for this as there are valuable lessons for federal and state legislators and regulators to consider. About 30 percent of respondents identified relaxing or eliminating hours-of-service (HOS) regulations by the federal government as a top priority. Increasing HOS flexibility during and after COVID-19 is something that Federal DOT is working on and should be a priority. At the same time, about 20 percent of respondents prioritized the importance of expanding truck parking availability, ensuring safe parking, and prioritizing keeping truck stops open. HOS and parking availability go hand in hand, and these have been issues for some time. Once again, it is wonderful that New York City acted on this, but more states and municipalities need to prioritize this immediately.
- The trucking industry’s perceptions about the country’s economic situation over the next several months lean slightly pessimistic – both in terms of freight movement and consumer spending.
Kudos to ATRI and OOIDA for compiling this information. We see how difficult it is to fight a health and economic crisis simultaneously. Certainly, the health crises must take priority as the economic crises is a direct result of it. That said, basic commerce must continue to flow and that is done on the back of the trucking industry. Industry insights are essential in crafting smart policy to help weather this storm.
Leave a Reply