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Throughout the past week, national truckload spot rates have been rising about 1.5%. All according to the National Truckload Index. This is the case with the hurricane having made landfall in the United States right off the southwest coast of Florida. National Tender Rejection Rates are somewhat unaffected. All with the indication that transportation managers have little to no fear in regards of capacity availability on a national level.

Disasters like Hurricane Ian are able to send transportation markets into a tailspin, while in many environments there have been so much capacity. Relief supplies such as bottled water, power generators and food. These are all shipped into disaster zones, with a large amount of truckload capacity. The loads will pay a premium while trucks are pulled off from existing routes, the carriers are in need of educating themselves.

In regards to the capacity problem, production from disaster areas may be considered problematic.

Adding to the capacity problem, when you have production held in disaster areas, thoroughfares end up getting blocked, which in turn, can lead to backlogs and congestion. Of course, there tends to be nuance to every hurricane and the following fallout.

Hurricane Ian happens to be lacking in a couple critical components in order to qualify it as a serious threat to transportation capacity. Certain factors like the following will distinguish whether or not the natural disaster will have a strong national impact for domestic transportation. Timing, where the market might be unstable or in transition, location, how urban areas will be at risk for more damage, but the location will be a primary hub for production or transportation. Of course, the damage will have more of a long term impact while being less impactful of transportation from the time of the event.

Timing is necessary.

Market conditions are totally disregarded when it comes to seeing whether or not supply chains are able to have inhibit flow of freights. After all, the truckload demand has been declining since February and spot rates have themselves been dropping since then.

Location matters just as much as well.

If in the continental United States, the hurricane vene goes a little off-kilter, it can drastically change the course of damage for the trucking industry as we know it. The costliness of any given hurricane really has to do with how specific it hits a targeted location. Beware of the water you see.

Trucking as we know it has been forever changed. It’s an industry that relies on the wellness of the society surrounding it. Without any sort of stability outside of society, what chances are there for the trucking industry to deliver items safely and secruely?