The costs of trucking have seen a consistent rise in the recent past, particularly between 2020 and2021. The American Transportation Research Institute found that the cost percentage 2021 had reached an exceeding 12.7% in 2021. Although the immediate cause of this was the hike in fuel prices reports Anahuac Transport, there were other lesser prominent reasons as well.
Rise in prices
Among the other reasons that contributed to the hike in prices of trucking were the rise in repair costs by 18% and the rise in the lease or purchase payment for trailers or trucks by up to 3%. Still, other reasons for these high rates of ground shipping included a rise in the wages and benefits of the drivers by 11 and 6 % respectively.
Additionally, the difference in the costs of the smaller and the larger fleets diminished as the smaller fleets spent approximately 5% extra per mile. The insurance costs for the smaller fleet and the incident costs for the larger fleets are the primary areas of costs incurred by them. According to experts, there will be a further rise in the costs due to the inflation that is likely to hit the market toward the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023.
Reasons for the hike in prices
The direct consequence of the increase in prices of trucking has been felt in the operations of bulk trucking companies such as Anahuac Transport. It has thus become pertinent one knows the reasons behind the increase in the rates of bulk freights as well.
- Hike in fuel prices – the consistent rise in the price of fuels certainly makes it a reason for increasing the pricing of the operations of trucking companies. This is more so for liquid bulk trucking. This is because even though a dry van may turn off the engine during loading and unloading a liquid tanker cannot do that. The liquid tanker involves the use of air compressors and vacuum pumps which requires the engine to be kept turned on even during loading and unloading. Hence, with the increased prices in fuel, the price in the operations of bulk trucking also increased.
- Higher insurance premiums – the bulk products, as per the ace bulk trucking company Anahuac Transport, attach more risks, particularly if they are hazardous materials. In case a dry van meets with an accident during transportation, the trucker may at the most lose out on a few crates of the goods they are carrying. But if the same happens to a liquid tanker with a hazardous chemical, it will cause large-scale damage, not just to its immediate surrounding but within a quite big radius. Hence the insurance required for such practices involves more money making the operations costlier.
- Higher driver costs – not every truck driver can become a bulk truck driver; they need to be adept truck drivers for a few years, then take up training and having passed it are then permitted to drive bulk trucks. That makes a bulk truck driver a more skilled person than other drivers and therefore it is only fair to pay them a few extra bucks
The above-given reasons, therefore, validate the costs of the bulk trucking services hiking in the present and the years to come.
