5 challenges affecting the haulage and transport industry

As the world moves away from the pandemic period, businesses are working on ways of reviving themselves. For instance, the transport companies like Migway have been boosted by the tremendous growth of the e-commerce sector. Urbanisation has also contributed to the improvement of roads previously untraversable. At the same time, driver numbers are down, which means those qualified to drive heavy goods vehicles are in demand. And those factors have led to the labour market for drivers becoming increasingly attractive but also complex.

But that’s just one of the challenges facing the market, so here are a few more challenges affecting the trucking industry:

1) Labour Market Prospects for Truck Drivers

Now more than ever, CDL truck drivers and supervisors are in demand as the trucking industry is projected to reach $2,366.3 billion by 2022. Companies such as Migway are actively hiring drivers. Indeed, in some markets, the migration of fleet drivers to owner-operators to chase higher wages in the spot market means that there are more vacancies that have been left behind for new drivers to occupy, compounding other systemic factors.

2) Digital Transformation

As a result of digitising its operations, the trucking industry has benefitted from real-time monitoring, location tracking, and logging hours for drivers. And the tyre part of the business is no different. For trucking companies to remain competitive, they have to adjust their strategies and business models.

However, the benefit of the installation of such technology is also connected to the mindset of owners and operators. Drivers must understand the importance of the procedures and all the data being collected. The data can be used by machine learning to improve efficiency, productivity, and safety.

3) Evolving Customer Expectations

With the growth in technology, clients are demanding more from the transportation industry. They expect that they will be promptly updated during the process as they have become more information enabled. Increasingly, clients want to find a company that delivers on their specific demands. This implies that a one-size-fits-all is rapidly disappearing to be replaced by data-driven supply chains.

4) Supply Chain Disruptions

A survey done in 2020 indicated that 41 per cent of supply chain decision-makers in the automotive and transportation industries lost $50 million to $100 million due to supply chain issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the globalisation of trade, it has become increasingly important to understand the impact of demand and supply on global trade flows and geopolitics.

Data silos must be eliminated from the supply chain by integrating all the significant points. One way to do this is to implement a management style that encourages flexibility and adaptation.

5) Transport Automation

The industry has had difficulty fulfilling orders and automating warehouses using robots, but they are becoming commonplace as a result of increasing demand. Increasing e-commerce demands require transportation providers to operate quickly and effectively.

Some analysts suggest that trend has taken the market largely by surprise, with many transportation providers still trying to adjust to the changes. It has become paramount for warehouse operators to deploy robots to make things more efficient, flexible, and affordable to meet the rising demand. Most transportation companies are still trying to work out the mechanics of the whole operation, as well as the budget required.

At this point, industry stakeholders need to understand the predicament they find themselves in and figure out proactive measures to put this industry back on trucks. Increasing the visibility of the supply chain is an important step towards promoting the integrity and security of the product. And the business-impacting role of tyres and their related technologies plays a key part in the overall process of addressing the five challenges.