b'2American Journal ofTransportation ajot.comTrucking industry facing TOP 100 TRUCKING COMPANIES 2023 fundamental shifts in 2023Data points to more contract carriage and away from spot marketBy Peter Buxbaum, AJOTInmid-2022,theinvest- thestartofthepandemic, ment advisory service Zacksaccording to Bob Costello, the touted the benefits of invest- ATAs chief economist. ingintruckingcompanies.Thosenumbersamong Upbeattruckingvolumesothers fed into the larger per-owingtoincreasedfreightception that the U.S. economy demand are driving the indus- washeadedforarecession. trys growth, said its report.But,aftertakingabreather, SMC courses helping toHighertruckingratesamidtruckvolumetickedupin capacityconstraintscontrib- DecembertheCassFreight ute to buoyancy in the truck- Index showing a 1.2% gain on fill the LTL knowledge gap ing industry. cameouta seasonally-adjusted basis. Thatreport justintimetoseevolumesS hift inS potM arketLTL is arguably the leading performance sector in trucking. Butebb and spot rates fall. But,Thefuturedirectionof understanding the LTL market doesnt come easy and SMCs edu- aswithotheraspectsofthethe U.S. economy presents a UnitedStateseconomy,theconfusingpictureasdothe cational courses are working to fill the LTL knowledge gap. truckingindustrypresentsaprevailing trends in the truck-mixed picture.ingindustry. Thepossibility By Matt Miller, AJOT AtthetimetheZacksthatafundamentalindustry report was released, the Amer- shiftisafoot,inwhichthe Less-than-truckload(LTL)shippingistofilljobs.TheseincludeeverythingfromicanTruckingAssociationsspot market has less influence booming,evenmoresothanitstruckloadwarehouse personnel to sales.(ATA) seasonally adjusted For- onbroadermarkettrends, competitor(TL).AndtheLTLsectorhasTheres a huge shortage of people, saidHireTruckTonnageIndexprovides some clarity.become the bellwether for the trucking indus- Karl Manrodt, logistics professor at Georgiahad gained 7.9% in June yearThehealthoftheU.S. try as a whole. College. overyear and 3.5% in May.economy,andthetrucking This translates to much more than just aTheLTLindustryisattractingawideA few months later, the indexindustry, by extension, is fun-growing shortage of the truck drivers them- array of hopefuls, with jobs aplenty and sto- decreased1.2%inOctoberdamentally dependent upon the selves,aproblemthathasbeenspotlightedriesaboutlogisticsnowcommonplace.Butand2.5%inNovember,thelevelofconsumerspending. and discussed for years. The entire industrymany, if not most, know little about the nutslatter representing the largest(SHIFTScontinued on and the shippers that support it are scrambling(FILLcontinued on page 7) single monthly decrease sincepage 4)'