Nationwide Truck Shortage

A nationwide truck shortage is forcing thousands of shippers into a tough choice: postpone all but the most important deliveries, or pay dearly to jump to the front of the line.

Michelin North America Inc. cut its daily shipments of synthetic rubber from one plant by a fifth earlier this month and is at times paying double its usual price for temperature-controlled trucks, said Eric Stuch, a logistics manager at the tire manufacturer. Meal-kit service HelloFresh SE recently enlisted one of its produce suppliers to help move shipments to the airport in a snowstorm.

Several factors have converged to overwhelm the trucking market. Freight volumes in December hit near-record levels for that time of year, on the back of a strengthening economy. Retailers are replenishing stocks after one of the strongest holiday sales seasons in recent years. Manufacturers are also shipping more cargo; in December, industrial production had the largest year-over-year gain since 2010, according to the Federal Reserve.

What’s more, bad weather and a new federal safety rule that took effect in December have crimped the supply of available trucks. Diesel prices are near a three-year high, adding to transportation costs.

In the spot market, where shippers hire trucks on short notice, there were about 10 loads waiting to be moved for every available truck in the week ending Jan. 20, compared with three in the same week last year, according to online freight marketplace DAT Solutions LLC.

Spot-market prices for dry vans, the most commonly used big rig, are up more than 20% year-over-year. Analysts expect long-term contract rates that shippers negotiate with carriers to rise by between 5% and 8% this year.

Beer distributor Constellation Brands Inc. and food companies Campbell Soup Co. and the J.M. Smucker Co. have all cited rising freight costs in recent earnings calls.

“Literally every possible thing that could be going against a shipper is happening right now,” said 

Michael Redisch, a principal at Chicago-based freight broker Atomic Transport LLC.

Trucking fleets are adding capacity, but it can take months or even years to catch up with demand. 

Meanwhile, they are getting pickier about which manufacturers and retailers they work with. Companies sometimes find it hard to convince truckers to pick up cargo at warehouses known for long loading times or traffic jams at the gate.

Mr. Stuch, the Michelin logistics manager, said the company “hit a wall in December,” when some regular carriers didn’t want to haul its cargo because of wait times at a few plants.​