Trucking Industry Outlook 2019

Last year was pretty interesting for the trucking industry – rising fuel costs, new regulations, driver shortage, new interesting and innovative truck models, self driving trucks are on the rise also. A lot have happened in 2018 and we are curious about what is coming in 2019. Here’s an early jump on 2019 predictions and trends:

Driver Shortage Continues

The trucking industry is experiencing a low truck supply but a high demand for freight. One of the main reasons why is this happening is the driver shortage. Each year, the older drivers are retiring and there are very few younger drivers left to take their place. This is mostly due to the difficulty of the occupation. In addition to this, there are a lot of factors involved like Hours of Service, Average Driver Pay, etc. This will lead to fewer trucks on the road transporting freight and…

Rising Rates

Shippers can expect trucking rates to continue going up, however, at a slower pace than we’ve since 2018, ranging from a 7-10% increase for truckload contract rates and 1-5% increase for spot quotes. Those rates doesn’t necessary predicts higher profits. A large portion of this will be because of the increase of operating costs – fuel, insurance, driver pay, maintenance, etc.

Technology

We are excited to see what 2019 will bring. We are expecting new interesting apps as every year there are a lot new and useful showing up and helping the trucking industry. Autonomous and electric trucks are one of the trends that we expect to develop a lot this year. Expert are saying this technology needs another 5 years to develop enough in order to meet what the trucking industry demands. But we’ve seen a lot of breakthroughs in the technology industry in the past, so we’ll se what will happen.

Truck Sales

Fewer truckers and higher costs will lead to lower truck sales. We expect the number of sales to start declining this year. Probably this declining will affect the development trends for trucking manufacturers.

New Regulations

Three big changes are on the way in 2019. The first is Hours of Service change. A lot is under consideration for revision, but there are rumors that we can expect expansion of HOS. The Under-21 rule is probably going down. DOT will launch a pilot program to allow drivers under the age of 21 to operate 80000-pound truck in interstate commerce. And the third is ELD. A lot of drivers are complaining about it and declare that it must change. We will se if FMCSA will lower the pressure around the ELD mandate with some changes.

2019 is here with all the uncertainties that come with it. One thing you can be sure about – our services. We will continue to deliver first class insurance options and rates specifically designed for your needs at the right price.