Electronic commerce, or e-commerce, has changed the way manufacturers, retailers, and distributors work. It is also changing the way truck drivers do their job. Some online e-commerce sales are business-to-business and other transactions are business-to-consumer, but changes apply to both environments.
Brick-and-mortar retailers are facing their greatest economic challenge ever as more and more previously successful stores are closing their doors. Some of the country’s retail powerhouses are shutting down locations across the country, taking with them hundreds of thousands of jobs.
Trucking companies that served those stores also feel the effects of the e-commerce explosion. Some experts in the trucking industry believe that we’re really just at the front end of the growth of online orders and sales and the move away from real-world stores. These experts think it’s best to be prepared for large-scale change in shipper and trucker behavior.
More shippers – retailers, manufacturers, and others – are delivering to e-commerce companies and distributors. Coupled with that are consumers’ high expectations of inexpensive or free shipping. Both trends mean that maintaining inventory levels of current stock is critical. That dynamic means more money tied up in stock sitting in the warehouses and that affects shippers.
For truckers, the online marketplace and expansion of consumer ordering will bring a dramatic increase in the number of drivers having to deliver to homes. “It changes the job description for a truck driver because then they are having to unload and deliver and keep a smile on their face,” said one expert. “Fifteen years ago we didn’t have to worry about that because it didn’t exist.” Some drivers will even be expected to stay and help assemble what’s in the boxes!
Changing trends in the transportation industry, such as the rapid growth of e-commerce, also affect opportunities for truckers on freight matching sites. You could consider online load boards, like FreeFreightSeach.com, the trucker’s version of the e-marketplace! Like ordering online, using FreeFreightSearch is easy, convenient, and fast. Register on the world’s largest FREE load board today. FreeFreightSearch.com is geared to help you succeed in any business environment.
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