Editorial: The Art of Moving Boxes

An awful lot has changed over the years in the trucking industry. And, like in so many industries today, the pace of that change seems to be escalating every year.

And key players in our industry were gathering last week at American Trucking Associations’ latest executive summit, this one on technology-driven performance, to see what’s new on the market to assist truckers in doing their jobs better, as well as what’s going to be available in showrooms in the not too distant future.

It’s good to remember as the year draws to a close, however, that it’s all still about moving boxes.

That is, all of the many exciting devices, software and systems are worthwhile only because they make it faster, easier and more cost-effective to deliver those boxes.

The freight delivery system in the United States is still the envy of the world: No one does it better, faster or more cost-efficiently than we do it here.

The trucks we use have come a long way. Even the fiasco surrounding the adoption of stricter federal emissions standards wasn’t enough to slow the evolution of our vehicles for more than a few years. Today, miles-per-gallon performance is better than it’s ever been, and truck makers are promising at least 10 mpg before long.

The software systems that are available have been an enormous help in removing costs and time delays from the freight delivery system, and it seems that the tech companies in our world come up with new and better ways of doing things every year.

And it’s interesting to note that the tech improvements in trucking weren’t seriously slowed down by the Great Recession. While truck purchases plummeted, the lean economic times actually pushed many fleets to invest in new technologies to improve their efficiency.

Now, the latest data indicate that the U.S. economy may be getting ready to grow at a more robust rate in 2014, a welcome relief from the slow growth since the recession.

So, as we work our way through December, it’s a good time to take stock of where we’ve been, where we are and where we’re going. And to give thanks for all we’ve got and to prepare for what’s to come.

The new year, 2014, is just around the corner.