{"id":22002,"date":"2020-01-02T22:21:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-03T06:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/soinfluential.com\/?p=22002"},"modified":"2020-01-26T22:23:52","modified_gmt":"2020-01-27T06:23:52","slug":"the-trucking-industry-grew-9-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/soinfluential.com\/the-trucking-industry-grew-9-this-year\/","title":{"rendered":"The Trucking Industry Grew 9% This Year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The connectivity and mobile advancements made in the Internet-of-Things (IoT), and the rise of various devices and dispatch software<\/strong> have been vital in the growth of the trucking industry these past few years. It certainly helped trucking companies survive 2019 and grow, despite being besieged with bad weather, overcapacity, industrial slowdown, and the issues from the trade war with China. The trucking industry will be facing more challenges this year, but improvements in IoT are expected to be one of the driving forces in market growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why the Trucking Industry Continued to Grow in 2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Perception about how the trucking and transportation performed in 2019<\/a> can be confusing. Most are inundated with description of how bad it was for truckers and small companies. There are even stories of mass layoffs from both trucking companies and truck manufacturers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a different story if you look behind the bombast and consider the hard facts. While it\u2019s true the trucking industry experienced a slow down in 2019, it\u2019s not as horrible as some say it was. As one specialist explained, \u201cthe death of freight has been greatly exaggerated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seidl of Chainalytics-Cowen Freight Indices noted back last May that freight market numbers were so impressive during the first half of 2018 that 2019 paled in comparison. The company also noted that contract and spot rates for 2019 were above that of 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data from the end of 2019 showed that dry van rates declined 6.4% in contrast to 2018. However, it was up by almost 15.5% when compared to January 2017 numbers. Van spot rates also rose by 9.7% in December 2019 from January 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wages in the trucking industry also improved in 2019 as companies tried to hold on to their existing and experienced drivers. Recruiters also worked double time to entice new drivers by offering attractive compensation and sign-on bonuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How the Internet-of-Things Helped Trucking<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Technology has resulted in massive improvements in the transportation industry. Whether it\u2019s a small trucking business or one of the established freight and shipping companies, IoT is being utilized to streamline operations and make them more efficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n