After being cancelled earlier this year, the pilot program allowing Mexican trucks to carry cargo on U.S. roads may be back on. This is due to a six billion dollar lawsuit aimed at the U.S. government as well as the steep tariffs imposed on U.S. goods as punishment. Industries on both sides of the border have been calling for resolution.

The program was a long delayed response to NAFTA’s call for the creation of a trans-border trucking program to exist by the year 2000 and represents the first step toward compliance. For many, this news raises concern over the safety issues that initially delayed the project.

In 1995, the government responded to concerns that Mexican trucks could not pass U.S. safety checks by restricting them to designated commercial zones within twenty miles of the border. Goods destined for other areas of the U.S. and Canada were required to be transferred to new trucks to continue their journey. The safety issues in question are related to Department of Transportation studies that show forty one percent of Mexican trucks did not pass safety checks in 1998. In comparison, there is a twenty five percent failure rate for U.S. trucks and a seventeen percent failure rate for Canadian trucks. But these failures seem to be primarily related to certification, logbook issues, and English language fluency rather than poor equipment. When a meeting was called earlier this year to address these concerns, the American Trucking Association noted that the pilot program was working fine.

We hear a lot about the economic stimulus package and rightfully so, it is the moment of change that we pin our hopes for an improved economy to. What is it going to do for the fundamental problem of freight volume has not been addressed. This is an important question. In the past, one of the first predictors of depressed economy’s new health has been the growth in freight. But today that is simply not the case and the stimulus package is aimed entirely differently. It’s not going to deliver a radical change to freight volume and the trucking industry.

What it might do is help to stabilize and slowly grow industries that will create freight volume. The stimulus package has only begun to work upon the economy and as a result,
we simply cannot expect to see much change before the onset of 2010. The major areas of growth targeted by the package are energy, automotive, and infrastructure. Of these three, infrastructure has the most potential to impact freight volumes, both directly and indirectly, as long as automotive continues to struggle. Directly, because infrastructure projects will demand materials that need to be shipped. Indirectly, because successful infrastructure will increase jobs and consumer confidence, which may then increase spending and retail sales. Freight volumes will remain constant for the foreseeable futures and then, as an indirect effect of the stimulus package they may increase.

At the moment, it’s enough to know where we stand and plan for the future.

Load boards are an invaluable resource to the trucking community. They are a hub of information that is endlessly and easily accessible with an internet connection or even just a cell phone. First and foremost, they provide a place to list and find trucks and loads. But load boards are more than matchmakers. The wealth of resources that they provide can help a carrier maximize their opportunities, which is especially valuable in this economy.

The first thing that a load board can help you do is find a load. This is the easy part. In order to maximize profit, a carrier must plan ahead and consider their trip. Building a profitable career as a trucker now means planning for both the trip out and the return trip, being aware of your freight lanes, being aware of and making the most of your local opportunities, and diversifying your interests. It is no longer about finding the highest paying load and setting off. Because of this, a load board is an important tool for success. It’s the ultimate planning tool, providing technology that allows you to build multi-leg trucking routes, rate shipping lanes, and look for truck stops and support systems. It makes it possible to look at all of these factors, plan your trip, and then roll with the punches and change your plans from the road. The flexibility and comprehensive ability to plan that this information offers, are the key to success for a carrier in a challenging economy.

Transportation companies of all kinds were among the first to feel the effects of economic slowdown. Freight volumes began to be affected as early as 2007 and they have only continued to lower as consumers have reduced their spending further and further. The good news is that economists and other insiders are suggesting that we have finally found the bottom of our economic freefall.

What does this mean for our freight volumes? Well not as much as you might think. All sorts of freight carriers are reporting a slight improvement from last quarter’s extremely weak freight levels. Unfortunately no one is seeing the traditional peak in freight volumes that comes with back to school sales to signal the beginning of a carrier’s busy season. Some companies are predicting that it simply won’t come. Retailer inventories may be so affected by the economy that they are able to restock slowly without triggering the expected spike. This in turn, means that freight volumes may stay low through what is normally a carrier’s busy season. They may be low, but crucially, steady. Though there is little growth predicted as the economy comes out of free fall, cuts are waning, markets are firming, and freight volumes are rising. The transportation industry may not lead the economy out of its depression this time, but its fortunes will continue to rise steadily into the future.

Times are hard for everyone, including the trucking industry. Despite it all there are a few bright spots. The first is that economists are saying that we have reached our lowest point and that the economy will now begin to recover slowly, but surely. That’s great news for the future, but how to hold on until then?

Unlike many other industries, shipping cannot be outsourced. Goods will always need to be moved from one location to another. The key is to be the one moving those goods and to make money doing it. Fortunately for the trucking industry, diesel prices continue to be low, helping to keep the costs of carrying low as well. What else can you do?

*Find as many ways as possible to cut costs. Be creative and efficient. One carrier keeps a coffeemaker on boards to reduce his need for stops.

*Use whatever sources necessary to secure a constant volume of work, in order to keep your gross income flowing. Load boards are a good source of postings.

*Diversify. Take on anything and everything you can to keep your truck full and moving.

Remember that although recent numbers say that industries outside of trucking are still losing position, truck-driving jobs remain in demand. This is despite furloughs and temporary hiring freezes. The key to success is to hold on and plan for the future.