(NewsNation) — The trucking industry is looking to rebound after turbulent times. In recent months, retailers have been dialing back inventory, sending trucking and rail shipments way down across the country. The shipping slowdown started last summer.
That’s also when consumers shifted their spending patterns from goods to services. This, combined with record-breaking inflation, also left big retailers such as Walmart and Target with warehouses full of unsold merchandise.
But trucking companies are hoping to bounce back with freight demands later this year. According to FreightWaves, a price-reporting agency, based on truckload volume data, there are encouraging signs that demand is returning to the market.
Carrier executives, according to the Wall Street Journal, are hearing that shipping customers expect to return to a “more normal” ordering cycle this year, and plan to start moving bigger volumes close to the fall shopping season.
“The good news for truckers is if they can hold on for a few more months, stronger volumes from produce and the typical spring shipping season are coming and excess capacity should tighten,” FreightWaves reported.
Truck Driver Ingrid Brown, who is the on-air host of FreightWaves’ “AMERICA on 18 Wheels” said right now, though, the season is slow because of the recent holidays.
“We are the first to say we want it now, we want it yesterday,” Brown said. “But it’s a time that we have to be patient because it’s not going to happen overnight. It wasn’t broken overnight, and it’s definitely not going to be fixed overnight.”
Brown said she anticipates change could come as consumers start getting into the purchasing and buying seasons.