According to JOC.com, “In some states where volumes have increased since the beginning of May, truck dwell time {the total amount of time spent at the facility} at pickup and delivery sites has dropped 10 to 20 percent, according to Fourkites.
That is highly unusual, and probably related to the pandemic, the supply chain visibility provider said. When demand for essential goods soared in March, “we heard of wait times as long as 24 hours” to load or unload a truck, which is also highly unusual during ‘normal’ times, said Glenn Koepke, vice-president of network enablement at FourKites. “It was just, ‘Get the truck to our facility and we’ll unload it when we get to it.’” As panic-buying subsided in April and May, “businesses have been able to correct course”, he said. “Companies have had about six weeks to get their workforce in better alignment (with volumes), they’ve improved their driver check-in processes, and they’ve been able to minimize dwell.”
Meanwhile, truckstop.com reports that “…the truck freight recovery is well into the “restart phase” but overall volumes are still well below normal levels. “The trucking market is moving up in a slow, stair-step manner,” FTR reported. But the worst should be behind us. FTR’s Truck Freight Recovery Index, as of May 25, was at 68.7, well above the bottoming of 28.9 on April 17. Dry van loads have returned to a ‘normal’ reading of 86.3 – up from the bottom of 42.6 on April 24. “That doesn’t mean volumes are robust, they are still below last year’s levels,” FTR reported.”
