When thinking about the economy, many people wrongly assume that it’s the everyday employees like management and sales teams that are responsible for keep things afloat. One area that is often overlooked for its importance, or at least taken for granted, is the trucking industry. The reality is that companies, organizations, retail establishments, and everything in-between rely on truck drivers and the haulage and trucking industry to make sure products, goods, materials, and various other important items are delivered around the country.
There is no escaping the fact that the trucking industry is responsible for transporting more cargo than planes, ships, or even trains. Simply put, without trucks and their drivers, goods, and products would not be able to be delivered from the various airports, ports, and rail yards to where they were needed. It is no exaggeration if there was no trucking industry, the economy would slow to a pause.
Important Responsibility of Trucks and Their Drivers
The first contribution trucks and their drivers make to the economy is by transporting necessary raw materials to product manufacturers. These can come from a variety of suppliers like loggers, farms, quarries, and mines and are delivered to factories where they are used. On the other side, once the products have been manufactured and are ready to be sold, they are then taken by trucks to retails and wholesalers across the country, or to airplanes and trains where they can be delivered to other countries.
All Shipped Goods Travel by Truck At Some Point
With more than 3.5m truck drivers employed by the industry across the country, there is not much that hasn’t been transported in a truck at some point. That includes petroleum, coal, leathers, textiles, wood, motor vehicles, minerals, stone, furniture, fish products, and agricultural products.
It is thought about 80% of the country relies on the efforts made by truck drivers to deliver their loads to their destinations in a safe and timely manner.
The Right Employees are Crucial
As one of the largest industries, it is one of the largest employment sectors also. However, because it’s important when it comes to a company’s production and efficiency, not everyone can become a truck driver. The right individuals need to be chosen for the job, whether they work as an owner-driver or for a company or agency. Late deliveries and damaged shipments can cause serious headaches and problems for the companies involved. This is why companies like United Pacific Parts exist and why so many efforts have been made to develop better tracking technology.
This has led to the advancement of such technologies as:
- Dashcams and various other management tech for truck drivers that help them monitor their trucks better.
- Self-driving semis that keep truck drivers employed but make their job slightly easier
- Trucking apps that provide drivers with all the virtual tools they need to manage their approach to driving, organize their electronic records, and help them navigate safely and efficiently from one point to another.
- Bluetooth headsets for truckers to ensure they keep their eyes on the road and don’t get tangled up in cords.
Meeting the Demands of Many
Although without the trucks themselves, the industry would grind to a standstill, it likewise needs drivers to ensure the supply and demand generated by the increasing volume of online sales is met. Within that one sector, 70% of the freight being hauled across the country is handled by truck drivers.
Despite all this, as noted earlier, trucking driving is not the easiest profession to get involved in. It is, however, one of the noblest and as you can see from the above, there is always a need for individuals with the right personality and skills to help keep the country moving by driving trucks.
