US truckers win cargo from airfreight

IMPROVEMENTS TO information technology that facilitates cargo tracking, general logistics improvements and the use of driver teams is making road freight a competitive option to airfreight, according to reports from the US.
It's becoming increasingly common there for road hauliers to have delivery times which are on a par with those of air carriers.
In particular, there has been strong growth in the less-than-truckload freight consolidation sector, who have been offering guaranteed delivery times for some time now with great success.
In an effort to recapture some of their business and raise their level of service to that which meets market expectations, some specialist airfreight companies are bringing in guarantees for delivery times. These guarantees cover overnight, two-day and other specified time periods for the main markets of both the US and Canada.
Sources in the industry see the trend for shorter guaranteed delivery times as the way ahead for US domestic airfreight if the sector is to retain its market share. But adapting to higher expectations on the part of customers will not be easy. For one thing, guarantees are much harder to make for the delivery of heavy freight than they are for documents, for instance. Secondly, while many of the road freight consolidators have state of the art infrastructure in place, heavy airfreight operators will have to fine-tune their IT and logistics systems to make guarantees a reality.
In the long-term though, the competition from road hauliers and combined air/road carriers must be seen as a stimulant that will improve overall service levels and give the internal market the shake-up that it so badly needs.