Refrigerated Trucking Revisited

Abstract

Trucking is the dominant transport mode in the United States for foodstuffs, particularly those with high value and requiring controlled temperature and humidity. For example, 95% of all interstate produce shipments are by truck. To understand better this segment of the motor carrier industry, during the 1980s surveys were conducted of long-distance truckers exiting the Florida Peninsula. That work helped establish baseline data about the industry, including its structure, pricing, impacts of regulations, etc. After nearly 15 years, a similar survey was conducted in 2001-2002 of more than 1,600 drivers of long-distance refrigerated trucks. Issues addressed included: use of brokers and the Internet to arrange loads, importance of owner-operators and their ability to operate independently versus under lease to larger carriers, equipment replacement and utilization, and lumping.