Trucking News: 2022 Truckload Volumes, Vaccine, and Trucker Kindness

2022 starts with no letup in truckload volumes

Spot truckload freight activity normally starts to dip during January. The holiday rush is over and there’s a seasonal drop in rates and the availability of loads.

This year, the volume of freight moving on the spot market is showing no signs of decline. There’s ample freight available as shippers try to manage retail returns and rising e-commerce orders during post-holiday sales and inventory clear-out events.

• Van load-post volume on the DAT load board network is currently 80% higher year over year. Reefer load posts are more than double the same time last year.
• The Journal of Commerce Shipper Truckload Spot Rate Index in December increased 6 cents to $3.25 per mile as a national average. Early January data shows rates up another 15 cents to $3.39 per mile.
• Freightwaves reported that reefer rejection rates rose above the 40% mark last week for the first time since last May.

Capacity is tight as truckers grapple with weather-related delays and the effects of the Omicron COVID-19 variant on supply chains. The combination of high freight volumes and a lack of available trucks mean this pricing environment should continue through January.

Canada, U.S. set to enforce vaccine mandate for cross-border truck drivers

On Jan. 15, Canada will begin requiring proof of vaccination for truckers to cross into the country and said to expect delays at ports of entry due to the modified public health measures.

Canada’s Public Health Agency said any foreign national truck driver who does not provide proof of vaccination will be turned away. Truck drivers entering Canada can streamline their entry by submitting vaccination evidence and other information prior to arrival using the ArriveCAN app.

The U.S. will institute its own proof-of-vaccination requirements starting on

Jan. 22. All foreign national travelers crossing U.S. land or ferry ports of entry must be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 and provide proof of vaccination. These would be the same vaccination requirement that began in November 2021 for non-essential travelers entering the U.S.

The industry’s largest lobby groups, the American Trucking Associations and Canadian Trucking Alliance, say vaccination rates among drivers mirror rates in society at large and risk further slowing down international freight movement.

Trucker’s small act of kindness gets a big helping of gratitude

A truck driver who shared his breakfast with two people while they were trapped overnight during a winter storm on I-95 in Virginia is being rewarded for his act of kindness.

When Jean-Carlo Gachet noticed two nearby motorists with nothing to eat, he popped an extra Jimmy Dean meal into his microwave and knocked on their window. “We were both stuck for eight and a half hours,” Gachet said. “The least I could do is offer a hot breakfast with a cup of juice.”

In response to Gachet’s good deed, Jimmy Dean said it would provide him with a year’s supply of breakfast and a donation of 100,000 breakfasts to Feeding America.

“I think what Jean-Carlo did for one, we could do for many,” said Jimmy Dean executive Scott Glenn. “That’s why our donation to Feeding America was so important.”

For his part, Gachet said he plans to share his reward with his family and friends. “I’ll eat one here and there, but I definitely can’t, you know, save a whole year supply for myself,” he said. “That’s for sure.”