As I listen to truckers, both drivers and the small motor carrier owners, I find there are two camps. Camp one looks at the trucking industry as if the glass is empty and won't ever be filled again, and camp two sees the glass as overflowing with opportunity and possibilities.

Why is there such a difference in views of how the trucking industry can or cannot provide the needed revenue to sustain and grow a company? It all comes down to how a company or individual deals with change. Usually, human nature doesn't deal very well with change; we like routine, we like to know that what happened yesterday will have the same results when it takes place again. And the double whammy of increasing fuel costs and the collapse of the housing market caught some of us off guard.

When a major driver organization reports it has lost sixteen thousand truckers from its membership roles; when the ATA reports that for every ten-cent increase in the cost of fuel, a thousand trucking companies close their doors, the first inclination is that the industry is in deep trouble. But is it? Is it possible we became complacent in our approach to doing business? Had making a dollar hauling freight become that easy? It didn't seem so at the time, but now looking back--good ol' hindsight--it probably was too easy.

Well, the time has come for all truckers to look at their method of operating their businesses. It's time to get rid of the inefficiency in our operations. This applies to everyone in trucking: drivers, operations, safety, sales and owners.

Here's a list of areas in which we need to become more efficient.

1. While we can't control how much fuel is going to cost at the pump, we do have power over how we use it once it's in our tanks. We must design a fuel optimization program that works with the type of hauling we do. A heavy hauler isn't going to get the same fuel mileage as someone hauling light loads, nor is it going to work for an expediter to hold his speed down below the posted speed limit and yet still try to meet a tight delivery schedule. But looking at your operation and determining how to reduce fuel consumption without reducing the quality of your service is the first step.
2. Reducing costs through optimizing your vehicle maintenance and inspection program can have a double positive result. One positive is discovering possible mechanical failures in advance of a breakdown; the second, having the repair completed under your schedule, not the truck's. A truck will not be denied its maintenance; it's whether you want to pick the time and place it occurs, or whether you want the truck to choose it. An unmaintained truck will always pick the most inconvenient geographic location and the most inopportune financial point to fail.
3. 'Load Optimization' is a resourceful way to improve the cash flow. Are you planning far into the future? Minimally, this is planning both your outbound and inbound loads together. In today's economic environment, there isn't any such thing as a backhaul that pays less than the outbound shipment: inbound and return are inseparable and they must be treated as one. The days of hauling a load at a loss to get to a better-paying load are over. Anyone waiting until he has an outbound loaded before finding the return will eventually fail.
4. Sales departments have to realize the volume method of selling and booking loads no longer works in this new hauling world. With the limits of available cubic space and weight, and the boundaries of time placed on us by the hours of service, plus the increased costs imposed on the industry, volume sales is no longer a viable option. Every load must meet or exceed the break-even points and profit margins of the trucking company and the truck driver. Motor carriers' hauling rate ranges have to adhere to these basic business principles. If you don't sell a service for more than it costs to provide it, and if you don't calculate a capital growth amount into your rates along with your break-even point, failure will always be around the next curve.
5. Plan ahead. Anticipate what's over the next horizon. Don't let your guard down again. The ones who succeed in the new trucking world will be those who see the changes coming and adjust accordingly.

So where have all the truckers gone? The ones who: see the need to change, have adjusted to the new economic environment and are more efficient, are constantly tracking their costs, are developing hauling rates based on their break-even point and future capital needs, and providing top-notch customer service to their shippers are the truckers destined for success. The ones who are sticking with the "That's the way it's always been done," approach will have the opportunity to be greeters at the local mega-store.

Yes, it's gotten a lot tougher to make a profit in the trucking industry. But look at the past as an indicator for how to change in the future. Invest your time in developing efficient ways of conducting business. Learn about available technologies and apply those which help meet your end goal. Keep track of trends in not just the trucking industry, but in the industries of the businesses for which you haul. Be sure all the parts of your motor carrier business are well-oiled and maintained, and when the question is asked, "Where have all the truckers gone?" You can say, "This one is rolling down the highway of prosperity and success."

Good loads and safe roads, everyone.

Timothy Brady
©  2009