The Economy and the Trucking Industry

The next time you are at the store buying groceries, consider this fact: do you really know how all that fruit gets to the market? Unless the market specializes in organic foods, it is very likely that the fruit is shipped in to the marketplace. It is not just the growers that play a big role in delivering fruit to the people.

Truck drivers transport all types of goods every day for long hours on the road. From foods, to everyday products, to even livestock, the trucking industry is responsible for transporting goods from point A to point B. Due to the bad economy of late, the trucking industry has taken a few hits.

As the economy around the world affects the pricing of fuel, specifically diesel, the trucking industry suffers. Unlike other types of companies, the trucking industry has a very high level of upkeep since they are on the roads for up to weeks at a time. Maintaining a large vehicle like a semi-truck can be an expensive endeavor.

Not only is the vehicle complicated to take care of, but its cargo is at often times sensitive to time or temperature, so additional amenities are added to ensure the contents of the truck are okay. Add in fuel costs and upkeep of trucks during a bad economy can lead to bleeding cash just to keep the vehicle fueled up.

Due to the bad economy, many businesses seek ways to cut costs. During better times, a choice to use transportation like a truck would be an easy choice. However, with all of the cost-cutting that happens within the business world, there are businesses that usually rely on trucking who change to other types of transportation.

As the trucking industry slows down due to this lack of business, they must make their own changes to business infrastructure to stay afloat. This means layoffs or elimination of fleets of trucks. If a trucking company uses a contractor, many contracts are eliminated just to save money.

Whether we notice it or not, many of the goods that we enjoy rely on the trucking industry to get from manufacturing to the marketplace. Without the help of trucking, we might not even see some of the many items that we rely on throughout our lives.

As the economy goes through difficult times, the general public should be aware of the economy's effects on the trucking industry. Like any business, the trucking industry will go through difficulties as the economy is in an unfavorable position.

The unfortunate aspect of this are the increased miles fewer truckers on the road are travelling. This impacts all of us. Many drivers are unfairly required to put in longer hours to make their routes thus causing fatigue which is the leading cause of truck accidents. A poor economy and tired drivers is a dangerous combination.