High Costs, Driver Shortage Stymie Fleet Growth, Execs Say

EW YORK — Overall truck freight capacity remains tight as high fuel and other operating expenses continue to discourage large carriers from expanding their fleets and to push an increasing number of smaller fleets out of business, according to freight executives attending a Wall Street transportation conference.

Kirk Thompson, president of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, said, “There is no meaningful capacity coming into the truckload market . . . If you want to add trucks, it’s impossible.”

He said the main problem was finding drivers. Thompson said Hunt has 300 people involved in hiring drivers, twice the number the Lowell, Ark., company has involved in sales.