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Firms in the truck transportation and warehousing industry provide a link between manufacturers and consumers. Businesses, and occasionally individuals, contract with trucking and warehousing companies to pick up, transport, store, and deliver a variety of goods. The industry includes general freight trucking, specialized freight trucking, and warehousing and storage. General freight trucking uses motor vehicles, such as trucks and tractor-trailers, to provide over-the-road transportation of general commodities. This industry segment is further subdivided based on distance traveled. Local trucking establishments carry goods primarily within a single metropolitan area and its adjacent non-urban areas. Long-distance trucking establishments carry goods between distant areas. Local trucking comprised 27,000 trucking establishments in 2004. The work of local trucking firms varies with the products transported. Produce truckers usually pick up loaded trucks early in the morning and spend the rest of the day delivering produce to many different grocery stores. Lumber truck drivers, on the other hand, make several trips from the lumberyard to one or more construction sites. Some local truck transportation firms also take on sales and customer relations responsibilities, in addition to delivering the firm’s products. Some local trucking firms specialize in garbage collection and trash removal or hauling dirt and debris. Long-distance trucking comprises establishments engaged primarily in providing long-distance trucking between distant areas and sometimes between the United States and Canada or Mexico. Numbering 39,000 establishments, these firms handle every kind of commodity. Specialized freight trucking provides over-the-road transportation of freight, which, because of size, weight, shape, or other inherent characteristics, requires specialized equipment, such as flatbeds, tankers, or refrigerated trailers. This industry sector also includes the moving industry—that is, the transportation of used household, institutional, and commercial furniture. Like general freight trucking, specialized freight trucking is subdivided into local and long-distance components. The specialized freight trucking sector contained 46,000 establishments in 2004. Some goods are carried cross country using intermodal transportation to save time and money. Intermodal transportation encompasses any combination of transportation by truck, train, plane, or ship. Typically, trucks perform at least one leg of the trip. For example, a shipment of cars from an assembly plant begins its journey when they are loaded onto rail cars. Next, trains haul the cars across country to a depot, where the shipments are broken into smaller lots and loaded onto tractor-trailers, which drive them to dealerships. Each of these steps is carefully orchestrated and timed so that the cars arrive just in time to be shipped on their next leg of their journey. Goods can be transported at lower cost this way, but they cannot be highly perishable—like fresh produce—or have strict delivery schedules. Trucking dominates the transportation of perishable and time-sensitive goods. Warehousing and storage facilities comprised 13,000 establishments in 2004. These firms are engaged primarily in operating warehousing and storage facilities for general merchandise and refrigerated goods. They provide facilities to store goods; self-storage mini-warehouses that rent to the general public also are included in this segment of the industry. The deregulation of interstate trucking in 1980 encouraged many firms to add a wide range of customer-oriented services to complement trucking and warehousing services and led to innovations in the distribution process. Increasingly, trucking and warehousing firms are providing logistical services encompassing the entire transportation process. Firms that offer these services are called third-party logistics providers. Logistical services manage all aspects of the movement of goods between producers and consumers. Among their value-added services are sorting bulk goods into customized lots, packaging and repackaging goods, controlling and managing inventory, order entering and fulfillment, labeling, performing light assembly, and marking prices. Some full-service companies even perform warranty repair work and serve as local parts distributors for manufacturers. Some of these services, such as maintaining and retrieving computerized inventory information on the location, age, and quantity of goods available, have helped to improve the efficiency of relationships between manufacturers and customers. Many firms are relying on new technologies and the coordination of processes to expedite the distribution of goods. Voice control software allows a computer to coordinate workers through audible commands—telling workers what items to pack for which orders—helping to reduce errors and increase efficiency. Voice control software also can be used to perform inventory checks and reordering. Some firms use Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFID) to track and manage incoming and outgoing shipments. RFID simplifies the receiving process by allowing entire shipments to be scanned without unpacking a load to manually compare it against a bill of lading. Just-in-time shipping is a process whereby goods arrive just before they are needed, saving recipients money by reducing their need to carry large inventories. These technologies and processes reflect two major trends in warehousing: supply chain integration, whereby firms involved in production, transportation, and storage all move in concert so as to act with the greatest possible efficiency; and ongoing attempts to reduce inventory levels and increase inventory accuracy. THE FUTURE The number of wage and salary jobs in the truck transportation and warehousing industry is expected to grow 14 percent from 2004 through 2014, compared with projected growth of 14 percent for all industries combined. Growth will result in many job openings because the industry is so large. There also will be openings due to replacement needs for the large number of workers who will transfer to other industries or retire. Job opportunities should be especially good for truck drivers and diesel service technicians and mechanics. One of the main factors influencing the growth of the truck transportation and warehousing industry is the state of the national economy. Growth in the industry parallels the movements of the national economy. As the national economy grows and the production and sales of goods increases, there is an increase in the demand for transportation services to move goods from their producers to consumers. During economic downturns, the truck transportation and warehousing industry is one of the first to slow down as orders for goods and shipments decline. Competition in truck transportation is intense, both among trucking companies and, in some long-haul truckload segments, with the railroad industry. Nevertheless, trucking accounts for the bulk of freight transportation. Warehousing is expected to grow faster than the rest of the industry, although many midsized firms are being purchased by others in attempts to consolidate. Additional employment growth will result from manufacturers’ willingness to concentrate more on their core competencies—producing goods—while outsourcing their distribution functions to trucking and warehousing companies which can perform these tasks for less money. As firms in other industries increasingly employ the industry's logistical services, such as inventory management and just-in-time shipping, many new jobs will be created. Also, as more consumers and businesses make purchases over the Internet, the expansion of electronic commerce will continue to increase demand for the transportation, logistical, and value-added services offered by the truck transportation and warehousing industry. Opportunities for truck drivers are expected to be favorable. In some areas, companies have experienced difficulties recruiting adequately skilled drivers. Many people leave the career because of the lengthy periods away from home, the long hours of driving, and the negative public image that drivers face. Employment opportunities should be better among truckload carriers than among less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers because many workers prefer the working conditions of LTL carriers. Stricter requirements for obtaining—and keeping—a commercial driver’s license also make truck driving a less attractive career. New restrictions on who can obtain or renew their hazardous-material endorsement should increase opportunities for those able to pass the criminal background checks now required. Opportunities for diesel service technicians and mechanics also are expected to be favorable, especially for applicants with formal postsecondary training. Growth in the truck transportation and warehousing industry should prompt an increase in office and administrative support employment. More dispatchers, stock clerks, and shipping, receiving, and traffic clerks will be needed to support expanded logistical services across the country. However, fewer secretaries, bookkeepers, and file clerks will be needed, because computers and other automated equipment will make workers in these occupations more efficient and productive. Opportunities for those with information technology skills will be excellent.
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