Flatbed shipping is consistently growing with the high demand for consumer goods, but it presents challenges along with its benefits. Like all things with unique challenges, there are best practices and ways to manage the process for greater success.

The need to get food, medicine, and drinks from point A to B is constantly growing. These needs continue to grow due to market instability post-pandemic and the continued recovery in goods purchases. Catching up the supply chain is still happening and will reverberate through the reefer segment for years to come.

Becoming a truck driver in Alabama can be one of the best career moves you can make. Every day is a new adventure, you’re the boss in the cab of your truck, and the earnings potential is exceptional. Better yet, you’ll be in very high demand in a growing industry that is the backbone of America.

Getting your CDL and earning great money can happen in just a few weeks when you attend trucking schools in Alabama. Others might go into jobs where they train and then work years to move up the ladder and make a decent wage. Let’s weigh that decision–weeks versus years and no corporate politics. It’s a no-brainer.

How to Get Your CDL in Alabama

Getting your CDL license in Alabama can lead to an exciting and successful new career. The need for drivers has never been greater, pushing up pay and creating various career options. A shortage of drivers means job security when you get licensed as a commercial driver.

When the  Covid-19 pandemic started, one common image was of empty store shelves at the supermarket. A common industry refrain related how Americans were seeing the role of truck transportation in their lives. According to the Census Bureau’s Commodity Flow Survey, nearly $900 billion worth of food moved via truck transportation in 2017 (the latest data available). Within that category, 129 million tons of food products were moved using temperature controlled trucks.

Anyone who has worked in logistics knows that existential dread you feel when there’s a problem with one of your loads. The examples are endless, of course: a newly onboarded carrier assigned to pick up at 12:30 calls at 11:59 to say they aren’t empty yet from their previous load; a carrier delivering into a major retailer missed their Monday delivery appointment and was told by the receiver the next available time slot is Wednesday. Shipping delays are so common in this industry that some people use the phrase “freight happens” to shrug off these setbacks. Yet, freight shipping delays usually create additional expenses to transportation costs, whether detention, demurrage, or storage fees, among other things. A Freightwaves report from 2020 suggested that detention time cost the U.S. truck industry over $1bn in annual revenue per year. The report also included some sobering U.S. Department of Transportation statistics that suggest increased detention time also increased the likelihood of road accidents as loading and unloading delays increased driver fatigue and caused drivers to make up for the lost time by speeding on their way to the next destination. 

Truckers are the backbone of the U.S. economy. According to 2021 statistics from the American Trucking Associations, this could not be clearer. An estimated 10.23 billion tons of freight were moved by trucks in 2020, representing 72.5% of the total domestic load volume. Commercial trucks make up 14.4% of all registered vehicles. Furthermore, trucking and shipping-related services employed 7.65 million people in 2020, including an estimated 3.36 million truck drivers.