It won’t come as a surprise to any fleet manager: Traffic congestion is a factor that complicates daily dispatching and it’s only getting worse. Today, freight in urban areas moves slower than ever. Increasingly, fleet managers have to make on-the-fly schedule adjustments as trucks are snarled in standstill traffic. The Department of Transportation estimates that traffic congestion imposes $27 billion dollars in wasted fuel and labor hours on freight companies. It’s also a public relations issue for our industry. Trucks inevitably tend to be the highest-profile, most visible target for the frustrations of commuters fuming behind the wheel in ever-growing gridlock.
First The Good News
Projections estimate that freight volume on the road will increase by 45 percent over the next 30 years. This upsurge is driven both by overall economic growth as well as the increase in online purchasing. In addition to that positive spin, however, consider the other news: Most roads and highways are already at capacity and space and funds to widen existing corridors or lay new pavement are scarce. Faced with looming national gridlock, the U.S. Department Of Transportation is experimenting with creative workarounds like overnight deliveries.
What If?
The DOT is funding pilot programs in New York City and Pensacola, Florida to evaluate the potential benefits of shifting more freight deliveries out of peak hours to overnight, when busy corridors are less-traveled. Thinking outside the 9-to-5 box could result in more stable scheduling and predictable delivery time for both the carrier and the customer. For the motoring public, fewer large trucks on the road—particularly during morning and evening rush hour—would definitely be viewed as a plus.
Nocturnal Fact-Finding
The program, funded by $200,000 from the Surface Transportation Research, Development and Deployment Program, will enroll large retailers and big food chains in the two cities to explore new scheduling options. The program will road-test nightly shipping and receiving as well as aid participating freight carriers in re-thinking routes and supply chains. The data-gathering is aimed at gauging the efficiency of making deliveries when roads are less-traveled, assessing cost reductions for freight companies and their customers, as well as quantifying improvements to air quality and quality of life for daily drivers during peak hours.
That's P.M., Not A.M.
Change means challenge, however. As overnight deliveries become more mainstream, freight carriers face adaptability and logistical issues going forward. Companies presently operating in a conventional 9-to-5 frame will have to re-deploy drivers to overnight hours—AKA, "the graveyard shift." When attracting and retaining career drivers is an industry-wide issue, whether off-peak work schedules will be viewed as a job perk or an employment deal-breaker remains to be seen. Also, time-critical functions like maintenance—necessarily an after-hours task—will have to be flip-flopped to daytime.
Flexibility Rules
All signs point to the ever-increasing priority of getting and staying flexible. Roland curtainsides offer the gold standard in flexibility where it counts: loading and unloading. A curtainside morphs from the speedy three-side access of a flatbed to the sheltered enclosure of a conventional van trailer. Odd-sized loads are readily accommodated. The limitations of first in-last off sequencing in van trailers—a long-standing barrier to haulbacks and drop-shipments that enhance profit opportunities—are banished as curtainsides offer access to any freight, anywhere in the trailer, anytime. Job satisfaction and driver retention also benefit as the back-breaking work of heaving tarps and tying down are eliminated, along with the associated risks of injuries and lost working time.
