The COVID-19 Problems of Trucking Industry
For the second year, the world is fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. Many businesses have closed, people have lost their jobs. To a lesser extent, this situation negatively impacted the trucking industry as well. So what challenges have freight and logistics companies faced during this time? And what does the future hold for the cargo transportation industry?
Truck Driver Shortage 2021
The trucking industry has been plagued by a shortage of drivers for years. And the situation was made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the lockdown across the country, a lot of CDL schools have been closed. A similar situation exists with State Driver Licensing Agencies. Of course, it impacted the ability of prospective new drivers to obtain their CDL. Also, it is worth adding the fact that a very large number of drivers off the highways because of different reasons like older age that is generally associated with a higher risk of COVID‐19. And all these shortage challenges may continue into the whole of 2021.
Record unemployment rates
And while fleets transporting medicine and food were very busy and suffered from a shortage of drivers, some sectors shutting down completely or temporarily suspended work. That is why more than 88,000 truck drivers lost their jobs last April. Of course, since then the situation has stabilized a little, but unemployment has had an impact on trucker shortage too. An important role was played by the fact that the United States government passed legislation that increased unemployment benefits. So a lot of older truckers decided to stay home and not risk their health.
Truckers’ lifestyle
Life on the road is already full of inconvenience. But things got even more difficult when the lockdown was introduced. So it can be a real challenge to find a place to eat as the restaurants are closed. Of course, truck stops still remain open to accommodate drivers, but it is not easy to find healthy food there.
Future of the Trucking Industry
According to the Linchpin SEO, there are several trends that will transform this industry Outlook in 2021. First of all, it is carrier bankruptcy because of lack of work. The other one is an improvement of technology so companies should think about software programs that will make their operations more efficient and streamlined. But at the same time, a lot of experts say that 2021 will be a better year than 2020 for trucking.
