Firms in the trucking and warehousing industry provide a link between manufacturers and consumers. Businesses, and occasionally individuals, contract with trucking and warehousing companies to pick up, transport, store, and deliver a variety of goods. This industry includes two segments, local and long-distance trucking and terminals and public warehousing and storage. However, the trend towards full-service logistical companies is blurring the distinction between trucking and warehousing.
Local and long-distance trucking and terminals provide over-the-road transportation of cargo using motor vehicles, such as trucks and tractor trailers. This industry segment is further subdivided based on distance traveled and type of goods delivered. Local trucking establishments primarily carry goods within a single metropolitan area and its adjacent nonurban areas. Long-distance trucking establishments carry goods between distant areas. Courier service establishments handle individual letters and light packages.
Local trucking comprised almost 65,000 trucking establishments in 2000. The work of local trucking firms varies depending on the products transported. Produce truckers usually pick up loaded trucks early in the morning and spend the rest of the day delivering produce to many different grocery stores. Lumber truckdrivers, on the other hand, make several trips from the lumber yard to one or more construction sites. Some local truck transportation firms also take on sales and customer relations responsibilities, in addition to delivering the firm's products. Some local trucking firms specialize in local furniture moving, garbage collection and trash removal, or hauling dirt and debris.
Long-distance trucking firms account for a majority of the jobs in the trucking and warehousing industry. Numbering more than 51,000 establishments, this sector comprises establishments primarily engaged in providing long-distance trucking between distant areas and sometimes between the United States and Canada and Mexico. These establishments handle a wide variety of commodities, transported in numerous types of equipment-from refrigerated trailers to flatbeds. Included in this industry are establishments operating as truckload (TL) or less than truckload (LTL) carriers.
Truckload carriers move large amounts of goods directly to their destination usually with no stops in between. These long-distance carrier establishments provide full truck movement of freight from the shipment's origin to its destination. The shipment of freight is a full single load not combined with other shipments.
Less-than-truckload carriers pick up multiple shipments and bring them to a terminal, where they are unloaded and then reloaded by destination. The combined shipment is carried to a terminal near the shipments' destination, and each shipment is delivered from there. Through a national or regional network of terminals, activities of LTL carriers include local pickup, local sorting and terminal operations, line-haul of freight, destination sorting, terminal operations, and local delivery.
Some goods are carried across country using intermodal transportation to save time and money. Intermodal transportation encompasses any combination of truck, train, plane, or ship. Typically, trucks perform at least one leg in the intermodal transportation of goods. For example, a shipment of cars from an assembly plant begins its journey when they are loaded onto rail cars. Next, trains haul the cars across country to a depot where the shipments are broken into smaller lots, loaded onto tractor-trailers, and sent off on the final leg of their journey to dealerships. Each of these steps is carefully orchestrated and timed so that the cars arrive just in time to be shipped on their next leg of their journey. Goods can be transported at lower cost this way, but they cannot be highly perishable-such as fresh produce-nor have strict delivery time schedules. Trucking still dominates the transportation of perishable and time-sensitive goods.
Courier services establishments deliver letters, parcels, and small packages under 100 pounds, usually within the confines of a metropolitan area. In the past, they were one of the fastest growing segments of the industry.
Motor freight transportation terminals are mostly operated by large trucking companies. However, there were about 473 independent terminals not affiliated with trucklines in 2000. Many of these independent terminals break down truckloads of produce and other foods into shipments to area wholesalers. Many terminals also offer truck maintenance and repair services.
Public warehousing and storage facilities comprised more than 15,000 establishments in 2000. These firms were primarily engaged in operating warehousing and storage facilities for general merchandise and refrigerated goods. They provided facilities to store goods; self-storage mini-warehouses that rent to the general public are also included in this segment of the industry.
Deregulation of interstate trucking in 1980 encouraged many firms to add a wide range of customer-oriented services to complement trucking and warehousing services and led to innovations in the distribution process. Increasingly, trucking and warehousing firms provide businesses full-service logistical services encompassing the entire transportation process, including inventory management, materials handling, and warehousing. Firms that offer these services are often referred to as third-party logistics providers. Logistical services manage all aspects of the movement of goods between producers and consumers, such as sorting bulk goods into customized lots, packaging and repackaging goods, inventory control and management, order entry and fulfillment, labeling, light assembly, and price marking. Logistical services such as computerized inventory information on the location, age, and quantity of goods available have improved the efficiency of relationships between manufacturers and customers. Just-in-time shipping-where trucking companies deliver goods from suppliers just in time for their use-allows recipients to reduce costly inventories but requires constant communication and accurate inventory information. Packaging, labeling, and small assembly of manufacturers' products are other services that warehousing establishments use to attract potential customers. Some full-service companies even perform warranty repairwork and serve as local parts distributors for manufacturers.
