The North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) released its latest report, “More Regional Haul: An Opportunity for Trucking?”
“If you ask most people to define trucking words like ‘over the road’ and ‘long haul’ are likely to be part of the description. But the reality is that 45 percent of the Class 8 tractors produced today are day cabs, and a high percentage of those trucks are involved in regional haul operations,” says Rick Mihelic, NACFE’s director of future technologies and study team manager.
NACFE believes that a number of forces have come together that have the potential to lead to a more regional movement of goods. The organization says those factors include:
In its new report, NACFE takes an in-depth look at each of these developments and also provides examples of the various types of regional haul applications.
The two biggest takeaways from the report revolve around drivers and alternate fueled vehicles, NACFE says.
“Regional operations means drivers are more likely to get home on a regular basis and that could help the industry with its the driver recruitment and retention problem,” says Mike Roeth, NACFE executive director. “Regional operations are also fertile ground for alternate fueled vehicles because, by their very nature, they make it easier for fueling infrastructure for vehicles that use an energy source other than gasoline or diesel fuel to be installed.”
For more information, and to download the report, please check out the NACFE website.
