Freight carriers had to work harder in 2023 to stay profitable, according to a survey from freight marketplace platform provider Truckstop.
The survey of more than 2,000 respondents showed that carriers have experienced a significant increase in their workload in the past year, driving an additional 3,000 miles on average, handling two more loads each month, and absorbing the costs for 17% of their miles as unpaid “deadhead” travel.
Those challenges come on top of rising concerns about insurance costs and increasing freight fraud and theft, although companies did enjoy a decrease in fuel expenses that led to lower costs per mile. "Carriers face a multitude of business challenges every day including volatile market conditions, fraudulent activities and fluctuating profit margins," Truckstop CEO Kendra Tucker said in a release.
According to the company, it has helped its users cope with those troubles by offering new operations features like Expanded Search Results and Route Map, and by introducing a multi-factor authentication (MFA) requirement for load board, factoring, and Registry Monitoring Insurance Services (RMIS) carrier users.
Gartner, Inc.