The Role of the Trucking Industry in the Pre-/Post-COVID-19 Environment for Modern Industries

Abstract

Various economic, social, and environmental developments are converging to create an uncertain future for the U.S. trucking industry. These include, but are not limited to, the continuing truck driver shortage, an increased concern about environmental sustainability, and the industry volatility brought on partly by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which includes consumers pivoting to online shopping in never previously seen before numbers. On the horizon, technologies, such as IoT and autonomous vehicle technologies, have the potential to provide supply chain managers with information and services needed to enact positive change and solve existing logistics problems. This chapter is an examination of the issues currently surrounding the trucking industry in the U.S., with a particular focus on the two compelling topics of the truck driver shortage and autonomous vehicle technology. For the purpose of context, two Pittsburgh-area trucking companies were examined to gain a better understanding of how small- to medium-sized trucking-based logistics companies are currently operating in this space.