Road transport in the USA
A tricky situation
For few months, land freight transport in the USA is facing an increasingly complex situation significantly jeopardizing the deadlines for pick-up and delivery of goods.
Shipping companies are looking for solutions to limit the impact on delivery time, but not without overcoming a lot of hurdles. Indeed, it is becoming more and more difficult to insure a door-to-door service, having to leave the goods longer than expected at the port of destination - and thus exceeding the durations of allowed free time - or in a railway hub for lack of road carriers' support.
The origin of these constraints is explained by several factors:
- New ELD regulations (Electronic Logging Device) came into effect on December 18, 2017 and have been rigorously applied as of April 1, 2018. The latter, among others, limits the driving time of commercial inland transport and compels drivers to send a weekly report to law enforcement recording their hours of service.
- Shortage of drivers in particular due to a surging economy in more attractive activity sectors.
- Poor weather conditions stricking the country during the past few summers and winters - violent hurricanes or snow storms.
Consequently, it is complicated to avoid longer delivery lead times.
Unfortunately, this situation is likely to continue for an undetermined duration.
Balguerie stays up to date on this subject and remains at your disposal for further clarifications.