Fleet Capacity Shrinks as Demand Remains Soft

Freight Manager
Fuel Surcharge Update for the week of 12/30/2009 to 1/5/2010
Dept of Energy reports national average fuel price is $2.732
The http://www.fr8manager.com/ estimated fuel surcharge is $0.27 per mile or 16% of the line haul charge.
The complete chart of the Weekly Retail On-Highway Diesel Prices can be found at http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/wohdp/diesel_detail_report_combined.asp

The third quarter of 2009 saw an additional 405 trucking fleets close up shop, bringing the total fleet failures through 3 quarters in 2009 to roughly 1,300. While 1,300 trucking fleets going out of business in the first 3 quarters of 2009 might seem alarming, it pales in comparison to the blistering rate of 2,690 fleets that failed during the same period of 2008. The total number of truck fleet failures in 2008 was 3,065. So lets recap, 3,065 fleets failed in 2008, and through the end of the third quarter of 2009 an additional 1,300 fleets have failed, bringing the combined total to 3,990 fleets out of business with one quarter still remaining in 2009.

So what does all this mean? In 2008 the trucking industry lost over 39,000 trucks, and thus far through 2009 has lost over 14,000 trucks. This is a staggering truck loss of over 53,000 units.

It is interesting to point out that the compiled numbers are easy to establish based on the number of companies closing their doors and adding together the number of trucks each one operated. The loss of over 53,000 trucks might seem large (and it is), but what we do not know is the number of trucks lost by operational trucking fleets that have simply parked and taken the units out of service. Freight Manager estimates the combined truck losses would exceed 100,000 truck units.

Many shippers ask how they can avoid, or minimize the risk of working with a trucking company on the verge of an impending bankruptcy or closure. The correct answer is to utilize the Freight Manager fully automated, web based trucking brokerage system. Most load shipping customers do not have the time or the resources to properly monitor the stability, insurance, and safety ratings of the trucking companies that they work with. In fact most shipping managers are aware of this issue, yet continue to roll the dice on trucking companies they know very little about.

Most shippers think or assume that they have no liability when a trucking company hauling their load is involved in a major accident. They could not be more wrong. Recently the courts have found shipping companies and some trucking brokers liable for contracting with unsafe and under or uninsured trucking companies. One major accident would potential bankrupt most companies.

Freight Manager has the ability to constantly monitor insurance, operating authority, and safety ratings of over 100,000 trucking fleets 24 hours a day, every day of the year. If you are not using Freight Manager or not regularly utilizing the Freight Manager system, you should be. Insulate and protect your business from costly liability, by contracting your truck shipments through Freight Manager http://www.fr8manager.com/ and taking advantage of our thorough safety standards and procedures.