News / US trucking 'at breaking point' as costs rise and loads get scarcer

Economic imbalance risks “eroding the backbone” of the US logistics ecosystem, with the country’s truckers first on the chopping block unless drastic action is taken.

Despite an unexpected quarter-on-quarter upturn in Q2 volumes, the US Bank Freight Payment Index indicated that the US trucking sector remains in the doldrums, with shipment count dropping 9.8% year on year and spend contracting some 4.9%.

Linda Carrion, CEO of Carry-on Transportation Service, told The Loadstar: “The North American trucking community is at breaking point.

“While the driver shortage grabs headlines, the deeper issue is economic imbalance – costs are up across the board, but rates have bottomed out. Fuel, insurance, equipment, compliance, and parts prices have surged, yet our hauliers are being squeezed tighter than ever.”

Ms Carrion’s concerns were reflected in a report by The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) on average haulage operating costs in 2024.

On the face of it, the data seems to suggest a rather positive year for hauliers, with costs declining 0.4%, to $2.26 per mile, but the ATRI noted that, once fuel costs were excluded, average operating costs hit $1.78 per mile, which at 3.6%, the institute said represented “the highest costs ever recorded by ATRI for non-fuel operating costs”.

“Carriers were particularly hard-hit by growing costs in several line-items, including truck and trailer payments (up 8.3% to a record $0.39 per mile) and driver benefits (up 4.8% to $0.19 per mile),” the report noted.

Ms Carrion said the wider logistics community needed to recognise that haulage was “a critical service and not simply a commodity”.

She added: “SMEs have a duty to advocate for equitable treatment. That means educating shippers about the real cost of capacity, offering fair and consistent pricing, and building relationships that go beyond transactions.

“We must champion faster payment terms, integrate with hauliers operationally, and provide forecasting tools that help them plan with confidence.”