BY GARY FRANTZ, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
MOTOR FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION
Between softening demand, higher
operating costs, and a stubborn
shortage of qualified drivers, 2020
promises plenty of challenges for fleets.
At least in the first half of the year.

THE U.S. TRUCKING SECTOR IDLED ALONG IN 2019 ABSORBing generally flat to declining volumes, a slowing industrial economy, and an uptick in carrier bankruptcies. As the industry rolls into 2020, demand remains relatively soft, there are still too many trucks chasing too little freight, and the pricing pendulum has swung back in the shipper’s favor. Add to that new regulatory mandates, higher operating costs, and a stubborn shortage of qualified drivers, and truckers in 2020 will have to overcome some serious bumps in the road to success—and profits.

“It’s going to be a tough first half of the year” for both less-than-truckload (LTL) and truckload operators, says Bob Costello, senior vice president and chief economist with the American Trucking Couple that with higher driver pay scales, skyrocketing insurance premiums, and increases in virtually every other operating-cost area, and 2020 promises to give fleets all they can handle, Costello says.