Before you read here, have you checked out our most recent blog about the challenges that have led us to this point?

If not be sure to check it out here: “Trucking Challenges In Recent Years & 2024“, before continuing with this one. That way you can get a full view into why the industry is the way it is right now.

But for now, let’s look to the future!😄

The road ahead is filled with both uncertainty and opportunities. So here we’re going to expand on trends that we expect to see for the rest of 2024, including, increased operating costs, market volatility, the ongoing driver shortage, and cybersecurity measures. But on a more positive note, we’ll also discover new technologies and sustainable practices.

What Trends Do We Expect To See In The Trucking Industry Throughout The Remainder Of 2024?

Increasing operating costs (we hate to mention this one)

The trucking industry has had to navigate rising expenses in a super-volatile market where sudden spikes in costs can mean a loss on a load. These costs were extremely difficult to navigate when gas prices surged. Although, the increase in gas prices seems to have plateaued and has even finally started to fall, HALLELUJAH! Experts seem to think gas prices will continue to drop until the latter end of 2024 and hopefully through 2025! 😁

However, the bad with the good, an increasingly expensive operating cost directly affecting trucking is insurance costs. Year-on-year insurance costs keep growing higher. With no sign of lowering just yet, we think these costs will remain high throughout 2024 sadly 🫤.

*Trigger warning we might sound like a broken record* but back to the driver shortage for a second, (which we covered a lot in our recent blog, linked at the beginning) that itself is creating higher operating costs as it’s forcing transportation companies to offer higher wages and more benefits to compete for the limited pool of drivers.

More costly factors include, maintenance and repairs to vehicles and equipment which are at an all-time high (like everything seems to be at the moment 💰) and with more and more regulations coming into play, businesses are required to invest more into technologies and software. All of these factors combined are contributing to more expensive operational costs.

Technological advancements

Investing in technology seems to be super popular this year. A ton of articles show how carriers are using specific pieces of technology often relating to back-end duties, including route optimization. But beyond this, carriers are using technology including AI to enhance their overall operations, like:

• In cab technologies: telematics, driver cameras, and ELDs (electronic logging devices) for efficiencies 🚛.

 

• Maintenance predictions: AI analytics help carriers stay ahead of maintenance issues and potential breakdowns to prevent costly downtime and delays (we’ve written another fantastic AI blog post where you can read more about how it’s going to make waves in the trucking industry in future years) 🤖

 

• Automation: Again, AI technologies like self-driving and autonomous vehicles are in the works. While we’re still in the early days, this technology is rapidly progressing and when it is eventually a reality, it will revolutionize the industry in years to come🚚.

 

We think these are all fantastic technological advancements for growth, innovation and a reimagined industry! 🤖

Supply Chain Disruptions

Since the pandemic, all industries across the world not only trucking, have put in place multiple contingencies to diminish disruptions to workflow again. However, there is the HUGE and extremely sad concern of geopolitical concerns, which are particularly apparent in today’s world. Geopolitical tensions are affecting the availability and reliability of essential items, as trading across borders can be restricted. As a result of the limitations, naturally comes hiked-up prices! So again, adding to the increased operational costs. 🌍💰

As well as these political tensions, there’s also severe weather conditions like, natural disasters that pose a severe threat to supply chains. These can be tied to global warming issues which only seem to be getting worse by the year. The UN Environment Programme says that “Climate change is affecting the hydrological cycle and increasing the frequency and intensity of storms. Over 90 per cent of “natural” disasters are weather-water-related, including drought and aridification, wildfires, pollution and floods”. 🌊💨🌪⛈☀️

So, with this in mind how can the trucking industry do their part to be more eco-friendly?

More Green Practices

The trucking industry is emphasizing green practices this year it seems. There’s a growing concern over sustainability, so companies are adopting more eco-friendly measures including, electric and hybrid vehicles, alternative fuels and optimized routes to reduce their environmental footprint and overall emission outputs. Again, we’re predicting AI will play a large part in these green advances in the future 🌎♻️

Cybersecurity enhancements across the board

Cybersecurity risks are increasingly becoming a threat to EVERYONE, but here we’re talking exclusively about the logistics sector. Between broker fraud and other cyber risks, the trucking industry last year fell victim to hundreds of millions of dollars in online scams (around $700 million to be more precise according to the Wall Street Journal) and these criminals are constantly thinking up advanced scams that are extremely convincing. So, through 2024 expect carriers to be investing in advanced employee training of cyber threats, safeguarding operations and further credit checks. It’s better to be safe than sorry after all 🤷‍♀️.

Here’s Our Market Forecast For The Remainder Of 2024…

The road to market recovery

With all of the challenges that the transportation industry has faced over recent years and the lingering affects still apparent today. It’s no shock that we’re still in a struggling economy today and have only started to see a very slow recovery so far in 2024. We are however, hopeful that with the falling gas prices and a faster-growing economy compared to 2022 that the industry is slowly heading in the right direction.

However, it’s extremely difficult to predict exactly how the rest of 2024 will pan out, as the first quarter of every year tends to be slower for the transportation industry than Q2 and Q3 anyway. We so far, don’t have enough data to go off of, but we should all prepare for a market recovery to take some time, we must be patient. Fingers crossed 🤞 we’ll continue on a positive trajectory and recover from this recessionary economy!

Staying vigilant 👀

While we think a slow market recovery is still encouraging. A full U-turn in the industry is highly unlikely to happen in the near future. In fact, the transportation industry may never be the same again instead, we need to embrace a new ‘normal’ and adapt accordingly as most of us seem to be doing rather well. So by keeping up to date on market trends and new technologies we can stop ourselves from becoming complacent, which is a must!

Conclusion

As we get further and deeper into 2024, it’s clear that the trucking industry is in a period of transition. But its’ role in the economy is still as important as ever. Challenges are still present, but there are also huge opportunities for growth and innovation this year and next. By leveraging available technology and adapting to ever-changing market conditions trucking companies have the potential to survive the 2024’s evolving landscape 😊.

For now, those who are proactive in addressing these challenges and seizing the available opportunities will emerge stronger and more resilient in the years to come!

 

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