b'4American Journal ofTransportation ajot.comIs a restructuring of the trucking industry underway?George Lauriat, AJOTA quick glance atAJOTsing of many of the histories of Top 100 North American Truck- the trucking firms (on the list) ing Companies isnt very reveal- begins with the purchase of a ing, it looks much the same assingle secondhand truck. And it did before COVID. The topintheearlydaysofopera-twenty or so may shift a placetion management was more hereortherebutoverall,theoftenthannotseatedbehind structure remains very similarthewheel.Evennowpri-totheindustryspre-COVIDvatelyownedtruckingfirms composition.Butastheoldstill dominate trucking indus-expressionsuggestions,lookstry ownership. Many compa-(SHIFTScontinued fromareinconclusive,saidTimingrates.Itspossiblethatcan be deceiving. A restructur- nies are multi-generational in page 2) Denoyer,vicepresidentatlower spot rates were associ- ing of the trucking industry inmanagementandownership. ConsumerspendingrevolvesACTResearch.ThelaboratedwithelevatedlevelsofNorthAmericaisunderwayAnd with relatively low entry in part around trends in inter- market continues to add jobs atcapacityConvoyreportedand while the COVID-19 pan- costs, there are a lot of small est and inflation rates. Highera pace that implies too-hot wagethat tractor orders in Septem- demicandsubsequentdam- andmediumsizedtrucking interestratesmakeitmoreinflation pressures. Researchber 2022 represented highestburst of unleased freight maycompanies in the industry.expensivetofinancepur- fromConvoy,anot directly be the causal reasonTheindustryisconsoli-chasesandhigherprices,ontransportationtech- for the quiet upheaval in the struc- dating with M&As (mergers essential commodities like fuelnologycompany,tureoftheindustry,thepan- andacquisitions)comingat and food, crowd out spendingrecentlyreporteddemicsmulti-layeredimpactsa regular clip. Thats nothing levelsforotheritems.Thethat real consumerwere certainly an accelerant. new. Many of the big names Federal Reserve aggressivelyspendingremainsin the trucking business were boosted interest rates in 2022,elevatedasbotha D ifferentk inD of built through M&A. Trucking but with price inflation trend- goodsandservicesC onSoliDationC oMpoSition companieslike(5)Knight-ing lower6.5% yearly as ofexperienced upticksIn many respects, the truck- Swift,(6)YRCWorldwide, mid-Januaryitspossiblefrompreviousingindustry,especiallythe(14) ABF,(16) Penskehave theFedwillrampdownthemonths. The U.S.traditionalLTL,TL(Less- all made significant acquisi-levels of interest rate hikes ineconomy grew at aTruck-Load and Truck Load)tions along the way. thecomingmonths.Onthestrong 3.2% annualTim Denoyer, vice president at ACT Research dry van business and drayageEvenasthisarticlewas other hand, the labor marketpacefromJulythroughSep- netreplacementlevelsince[carriageofoceancontain- being written, Randolph, MA-remains red-hotwith unem- tember, the federal government2018but they also may beers]sectorwereoverdueforbasedRoadOneIntermodal ployment dropping recently toreported on December 22. related to a fundamental shiftrestructuring.Therewerea(25)announcedtheacquisi-3.5%suggestingthatwageDenoyerbelievesthatinthetruckingmarket,inlarge number (and still are) oftion of The Transporter, Inc., inflation may still be with us. thebottomingprocessis(SHIFTScontinued onprivately-ownedmomand(RESTRUCTURINGcon-Recenteconomicdatabeginningforspottruck- page 6) popshops. Acursoryread- tinued on page 6)sss.www.ajot.comContact: Carlos Valdez - [email protected]'