Trucking industry enjoys biggest jump in 13 years

Rise in manufacturing spurs boom for key industry in the area.

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By Eric Schwartzberg and Thomas Gnau
Staff Writers 1:19 AM Sunday, January 29, 2012

America’s trucking firms in 2011 saw their biggest annual increase in freight in 13 years, a boom driven largely by a steady rise in manufacturing and inventory restocking, the nation’s largest trucking association said last week.

The 5.9 percent increase in the amount of freight hauled last year was the largest yearly increase since 1998, the American Trucking Association said.

In December alone, the amount of freight jumped 10.5 percent, the association said.

Trucking is a key business in southwest Ohio, which has several major freight routes running through it, including Interstates 70, 71 and 75.

Ohio has 12,730 trucking companies that employ an estimated 270,000 people, according to the Ohio Trucking Association.

The national association’s figures did not surprise local trucking firm operators.

Ken Henderson, president of Middletown-based J.P. Transportation Inc., said the increase is between 5 to 8 percent at his business, but “it’s a mixed bag” when it comes to the cargo.

“If you’re hauling automotive parts and steel for that (industry) that has definitely picked up,” he said.

“Automobile manufacturers are doing much better now, but if you’re in the construction end, lumber and shingles and stuff like that, I don’t think that part of the market has recovered at all.”

Millis Transfer Inc., a Hamilton-based company that hauls everything except hazardous materials, saw “a little less of an increase,” according to shop manager Randy Purkey.

“I’m not totally sure of the numbers because we’re still going through all that right now,” he said.

Purkey said the increase in the amount of freight finds him “somewhat” optimistic about the future of the industry.

“It’s kind of stabilized finally, I hope,” he said.

Fairfield-based Consolidated Trucking Inc., which warehouses and distributes in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, has seen freight levels increase for some customers and decrease for others, according to Perry Williams, the company’s general manager.

“I’d say we’re up about the average,” Williams said.

While the increase is a positive sign, the economic downturn of the past several years has seen a tremendous amount of trucking companies go out of business, Williams said.

“If you take the number of companies that has gone out of business and (factor in) the freight that they used to haul and distribute it between the companies that are still in business, there’s your increase right there,” he said.

The increased freight is a bellwether of a stronger economy, said Larry Davis, Ohio Trucking Association president.

“My folks say they’re hauling more than they had been,” Davis said.

Trucks hauled more than 9 billion tons of freight in 2010, and trucking companies collected $563 billion, or 81 percent, of all revenue generated by freight shipping, the national association said.

But freight-haulers say they need more qualified drivers who are willing to make careers out of trucking, said Steve Spears, president of Spears Transfer & Expediting Inc. in Englewood.

“It’s hard to find drivers, and freight is getting more plentiful,” said Spears, who has about 70 drivers.

Another issue: Trucking companies rid themselves of trucks and trailers during the recent recession. Davis said he has heard of haulers who shrank their fleets by more than half.

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