Trucking spot rates are way up, but so are operating expenses. What does this mean for carriers? 

Since the pandemic began, the number of dispatchable trucks in the for-hire trucking market (trucks with a driver and available to haul a load) is up approximately 10%. Since trucking rates are contingent upon the balance of supply and demand, if volumes were to drop back to pre-pandemic levels (with far more capacity in the market), rates would collapse. 

But even more worrisome is that the operating expenses of carriers are at much higher levels than before COVID. FreightWaves estimates that operating expenses for nearly all carriers have surged by as much as $0.38 per mile over pre-COVID levels. This calculation includes only maintenance, insurance and fuel costs. 

The calculation does not include driver wages or equipment purchase/finance, which could nearly double the increased amount of operating expenses.

If a trucking fleet were to start up today with an employee driver, its operating cash expenses would be as much as $0.72 per mile higher than a trucking fleet that was started in 2019. 

Read more in an article from FreightWaves.