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Pitt Ohio, doesn’t expect to see
much in the way of tailwinds that
will help push carriers along in 2020.
All of which means “we will need to
create a better working environment
in which to be successful,” he says.
His areas of focus are driving pro-
ductivity and creating more efficien-
cies in Pitt Ohio’s processes, better
utilization of equipment by type and
size, optimizing the network, and
making sure Pitt Ohio has the right
book of business. Fields also empha-
sizes staying close to customers and
using technology more strategically
“to make it more efficient for cus-
tomers to see [and utilize] data we push
to them, rather than to call us multiple
times a day.” It’s about driving a value
proposition that resonates with shippers
and meeting needs for fast, reliable ser-
vice that helps them shave cost from their
supply chains. Some 90% of Pitt Ohio’s
shipments are delivered overnight.
The market also continues to suffer
somewhat of a hangover from businesses that overbuilt inventory in 2019 to
avoid trade risks, notes Darren Hawkins,
chief executive officer of Overland Park,
Kansas-based YRC Worldwide (YRCW),
which operates national and regional LTL
carriers and provides logistics services.
Overarching geopolitical concerns
and a weak global manufacturing sector
signal some continued risk, yet progress with China trade negotiations and
the ratification and signing of the new
USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada
Agreement) trade pact offer potential
upside. “If inventories rebalance in the
first half of 2020, … shipment volumes
will stabilize and benefit from what
could be a better growth environment,”
Hawkins says. He adds that the YRCW
carriers will continue to implement their
fleet upgrade plan in 2020. Since 2015, the
company has put into service “well over
5,000 new tractors and 12,000 trailers,”
he reports.
THE REALITY OF TRUCKING IN
2020—A MIXED BAG
The general sense that the market is soft
and any meaningful uptick in freight volumes won’t occur until the second half of
the year is shared by a number of industry
analysts as well.
“The economy in general is a mixed
bag,” notes Avery Vise, vice president
of trucking for FTR Transportation
Intelligence, a Bloomington, Indiana-based research firm. His research projects
overall growth in freight volumes of less
than 1% in 2020. In terms of hurdles to
overcome, he cites the outbreak of the
coronavirus in China as a “shock to the
[global trade] system” as well as continuing pockets of weakness in industrial
manufacturing and durable-goods orders.
Presenting at a recent industry con-
ference, Vise outlined five themes he
