Imagine this scenario: Your product demand explodes like a volcano, orders pour in like snowflakes, and every second pulses with growth potential. Yet you discover there aren't enough trucks to deliver this success to customers. This isn't hypothetical—it's the stark reality facing countless businesses today in what's become a survival-level "capacity crisis."
Capacity Emergency: Is Your Business Hitting a Growth Wall?
Have delayed deliveries triggered customer complaints? Have rising freight costs squeezed your profit margins? Have you wasted countless hours searching for reliable carriers? If you answered yes, you're not alone. According to Averitt Express's annual State of the North American Supply Chain survey, capacity issues—especially full-truckload capacity—now rank as shippers' top concern.
The survey spanned manufacturing, retail, food & beverage, and electronics sectors, with unanimous findings: capacity constraints have become businesses' primary growth obstacle. In 2017, one in five shippers faced capacity bottlenecks—nearly double 2016's rate. More alarmingly, 76% of the 1,600 surveyed companies anticipated increased 2018 shipment volumes, guaranteeing tighter capacity and higher freight costs.
Consider this: Your company invests heavily in a breakthrough product with soaring demand, but insufficient trucking capacity delays deliveries, damages customer satisfaction, and ultimately loses business. The impact extends beyond financial losses to brand reputation.
Why the Squeeze? Three Converging Factors
The capacity crunch results from multiple forces converging like a perfect storm:
- ELD Mandate: The Electronic Logging Device regulation improved road safety by monitoring driver hours but reduced operational efficiency. Routes requiring one driver now often need two, increasing time and costs.
- Driver Shortage: An aging workforce retires while younger generations avoid the profession due to tough conditions and strict requirements. Fewer drivers mean fewer available trucks.
- Manufacturing Boom: U.S. industrial growth spiked trucking demand without corresponding capacity expansion, creating supply-demand imbalance.
Cass Freight Index data confirms the gap: November 2017 saw decade-high shipment growth (6.3% year-over-year), with demand outstripping supply 14-to-1. For mid-sized manufacturers, this means routine struggles to move materials and products, threatening operations and competitiveness.
Expert Strategies for Navigating the Crisis
Averitt Express COO Wayne Spain identifies driver shortages as the core challenge, exacerbated by the ELD mandate and potential production increases from tax reforms. His recommendations:
- Embrace Intermodal: Combining rail, road, and water transport improves efficiency and reduces costs while offering shipment visibility. Rail excels for long hauls, cutting expenses and emissions while avoiding highway congestion.
- Prioritize Drivers: Competitive pay, better working conditions, and career development can attract and retain drivers. Averitt hires just 3% of applicants due to high standards.
- Optimize Supply Chains: Improved inventory management, shorter lead times, and stronger vendor partnerships can reduce trucking dependence.
Intermodal's Growing Advantage
As capacity tightens, intermodal's benefits shine:
- Cost savings from rail/water transport
- Higher reliability by avoiding traffic
- Lower carbon emissions
- Reduced accident risks
Selecting solutions requires evaluating cargo type, distance, cost, and security needs. Customized approaches combining transport methods often prove most effective.
With no quick capacity fixes coming, proactive measures—from intermodal adoption to supply chain optimization—will separate thriving businesses from struggling ones. The time to act is now.