Tucker Worldwide

Battle-tested logisticians need help to cope with growing freight levels as the nation rebuilds its infrastructure amid an economic boom, one of America’s top third-party professionals told Congress last week.

The United States Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) rolled out proposed changes to its Safety Measurement System (SMS) focused on reducing and preventing crashes.

Tucker kicked off his presentation by describing market conditions as “red hot right now,” for various reasons. One reason has to do with more freight moving in 2021 compared to the same period a year ago, as the market is roughly 12 months into a pretty significant increase in freight activity and a resulting capacity crisis. And this is also reflected in the rate environment, too, to be sure, he added.

A piece of bipartisan legislation introduced in the United States House of Representatives earlier this month by Representatives Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Seth Moulton (D-MA) focuses on augmenting road safety through a requirement by the Department of Transportation (DOT) to enact a Safety Fitness Determination test for motor carriers, coupled with requiring manufacturers and shippers to make certain that trucking companies are licensed, registered, and insured.

While the subject of a truck driver shortage ostensibly never runs out of roadway, data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) highlighted what a “tumultuous year for trucking” 2020 was. That was a key theme of a recent blog posted written by Jeff Tucker, president of Haddonfield, N.J.-based Tucker Worldwide, the nation’s oldest freight brokerage.