Western Truckers Scramble for Backhauls

Running a trucking operation west of the Mississippi River requires different strategies than in the more densely populated East.

Because certain areas in the western half of the country, particularly the Southwest, receive significantly more freight than they ship out, a backhaul is as sought after as an oasis in the desert.

Carriers going into those areas must either charge more for headhauls or plan in advance to secure freight that gets drivers back home, said Susan Little, marketing manager for DAT Services, which provides a load-posting service for truckers. The Portland, Ore., company posts 100,000 loads a day, and in the process tracks data based on state and regional traffic to help its client carriers operate more efficiently.

How carriers plan their moves in the West can be critical to staying in business, and Little said they would benefit from studying trends in freight movements. Dry van freight trends are tied into the amount of industrial activity that occurs from state to state. In the Southwest for example, there is a large proportion of people compared to the value and tonnage of freight. Because of the migration of people into places like Arizona and New Mexico, there is demand for consumer products that are shipped by truck. But the lack of significant industrial activity means carriers have trouble finding outbound loads.

For the full story, see the Jan. 8 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.