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America's trucking industry is in a dire state, which is bad news for the American economy because it serves as an indicator of the mood of consumers and their pocketbooks heading into the holiday season, one expert warned. Post pandemic, there has been a surplus of trucks and drivers compared to the amount of freight that needs transporting. As lockdown spending slowed and the cost of living continues to rise, more truckers are fighting for the same loads, which results in a "dogfight" between truckers and trucking companies, JKC Trucking Vice-President and Co-Owner Mike Kucharski told Fox News Digital. "Everybody's calling this the great trucking recession, and it's true because all the trucking companies right now are in dark times," he said. "This is not a good time to be in the trucking industry. Just to paint a picture, the trucking industry is the engine that drives the American economy forward. We're fueling growth [and] prosperity by transporting goods to where they need to be and when the engine breaks down or stops, it works like a heart. When that ceases to be, it brings the entire economic system to a halt."Yellow Corporation, for example, which is one of the nation's oldest and largest trucking companies, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August, laying off 30,000 employees. Convoy Inc., a Seattle-based trucking startup that was valued by investors at $3.8 billion just last year, shut down last month.
Kucharski said the current economic climate is "the aftershock of COVID." Pre-COVID Americans had more money in their savings, but after COVID, people had depleted their savings, which has led to bad economic decisions, he said. The holiday season is often a boon for the trucking industry, but Kucharski said spending dropped off after Thanksgiving last year, which resulted in the worst holiday season since the 2008 financial crisis. Unfortunately, he said there are fears that this holiday season could be "even more challenging than 2022.""The rampant inflation has created financial hardships for Americans across the board," Kucharski said. "People are tightening their belts, you just have to right now, and this holiday season is going to be a major test and economical indicator of how economic pressures are impacting Americans and the trucking industry."
Drove the I10, Phonix to LA, yesterday. It was "bustling" with trucks. Not seeing any slow down/lighting.
