What causes the booms and busts of the trucking cycle?

Apr 14, 2022 at 02:06 PM CST
Trucking is a massively cyclical industry. How is it possible to have a “driver shortage” and a capacity glut at the same time? This is a common refrain that I hear when talking about a slowing freight market. The reality is that the “driver shortage” doesn’t mean what most people think it means. First, we need to differentiate between the freight market and trucking companies. Trucking companies participate in the freight market, but are not the “market.”

Apr 14, 2022 at 02:06 PM CST

Trucking is a massively cyclical industry. How is it possible to have a “driver shortage” and a capacity glut at the same time? This is a common refrain that I hear when talking about a slowing freight market. The reality is that the “driver shortage” doesn’t mean what most people think it means. First, we need to differentiate between the freight market and trucking companies. Trucking companies participate in the freight market, but are not the “market.”