The Pulse of ITAD: E-Scrap Companies See Large Swings in Trucking Market

Published On February 09, 2021

A driver shortage that was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to create challenges for moving used electronics and other recovered materials this year, analysts say. In a recent webinar, freight market research firm FTR Intel shared insights covering the trucking market during the pandemic and how some of the challenges of the past year will be around for months to come. Trucking activity dropped dramatically in March of 2020, when COVID-19 restrictions and associated impacts began to spread across the U.S. Overall freight volume is still down compared with pre-pandemic levels, and FTR doesn’t anticipate the freight activity will recover fully until the middle of this year. That’s largely due to wider economic impacts from the pandemic on a number of business sectors. However, one figure has surged above pre-pandemic levels, and it’s an important one for recycling firms seeking transportation to move recyclables. Active truck utilization, which is the share of trucks engaged in hauling freight, is far above February, 2020 levels. Fewer available drivers results in less available trucking supply, implying that higher prices and potential disruptions in trucking availability may continue this year. The fact that Iron Mountain owns its fleet of vehicles is clearly a competitive advantage in this turbulent environment.

You can download and view the FTR webinar here.

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