Benchmark
How the U.S. Trucking Industry Is Keeping Up With the Economy
Truckers plan to expand capacity as freight demand rises by buying more trailers, survey shows
Transport trucks wait in line at the Port of Los Angeles in California.
Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
With the U.S. economy continuing to expand, trucking companies have had to keep up with ever-growing freight demand. They've been able to do so even with a significant shortage of licensed drivers in the country.
Instead of putting more trucks on the road and hiring people to drive them, the industry is opting to add more trailers (the boxes holding the cargo) to increase the capacity each individual driver can haul. About 70 percent of those surveyed plan to expand capacity by buying more trailers, the highest level since 2007, according to CK Commercial Vehicle Research's most recent Fleet Sentiment Report.