North America Freight and Logistics Market - Growth, Trends, Covid-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

North America Freight and Logistics Market - Growth, Trends, Covid-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

The North American freight and logistics market is anticipated to register a growth rate of more than 3% during the forecast period.

Besides transportation and distribution services, numerous niche players offer specialized services, such as reverse logistics, IT services, and consulting, in the market. Moreover, owing to environmental concerns, the adoption of green logistics solutions has witnessed growth in recent years.

United States represents the region's major logistics market with a highly integrated supply chain network that links producers and consumers through multiple transportation modes, such as air and express delivery services, freight rail, maritime, and truck transport.

Trade continues to improve steadily, and the economy is consistently growing. However, the industry is affected by driver shortage, tight capacity, infrastructure, and regulations. Ports and airports are investing in new capacities to cope with the ongoing demand.

Rail and intermodal services are improving capacity and labor disputes, although shippers across the region complain of poor services. Large fleet owners are investing heavily in new trucks, driving associated supply chains.

Competition is fierce among the North American ports. The US ports are straining under increasing tonnage and, in some cases, the inability to service mega-ships. In the past five years, many ships were diverted to Canadian rivals. Many ports seek funding for dredging to deepen harbors and obtain the equipment needed to support the increasingly large mega-ships blamed by the US West Coast ports, particularly for congestion problems.

USMCA (US-Mexico-Canada agreement), enforced on 1 July 2020, replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). It presents challenges and opportunities for transport operators. It might not have a great impact on trucking compared with industries such as automotive and agriculture. The trickle-down effect of industries potentially producing and shipping more products is where carriers likely benefit.

COVID-19 severely impacted the market studied. Cargo traffic on the Asia-North America trade lanes decreased by 2.4% Y-o-Y as a result of factory closures in Asia due to COVID-19. 1% of cargo traffic on the Asia-North America trade lanes decreased by 2.4% Y-o-Y as a result of factory closures in Asia due to COVID-19.

Rising air freight rates, dwindling warehouse space, and clogged cargo terminal arteries are among the challenges North American shippers face in the new pandemic economy. During COVID-19, railroad volumes declined by 20% and recovered only partially. Last-mile deliveries surged more than ten times, but ocean shipping is down by 25%.

Key Market TrendsGrowing E-commerce in the Region

During the pandemic, consumers increasingly shifted to purchasing more goods and services online as governments in United States and abroad implemented lockdowns to curb the spread of COVID-19. Some major retailers suffered huge losses, especially those in shopping malls. Meanwhile, online retailers, such as Amazon or Target Corp, which scaled up their e-commerce business, saw their fortunes soar as consumers became more dependent on online shopping.

The rising e-commerce sales are driving the growth of the market. The development of the e-commerce industry is attributed to factors such as the increasing tech-savvy population, increasing Internet penetration, and the growing use of smartphones. In March 2021, Walt Disney announced that it would close at least 60 Disney Stores throughout North America. The company said it would focus more on e-commerce while reducing the number of bricks-and-mortar sites.

This year retail e-commerce sales in North America amounted to almost USD 870 billion. Based on the double-digit growth, industry experts project the North American e-retail market to surpass USD 1 trillion the next year.

US Trucking Industry at the Core of North American Logistics Market

Commonly, goods are transported from manufacturing plants to retail distribution centers, but there are other common uses, such as the transportation of building materials and waste, in the construction industry. Trucking is responsible for most of the overland freight movement in United States, with the market worth USD 875.5 billion in the base year. At that time, over 902,000 truck drivers were employed in United States, which is less than the industry requirement. Owing to this driver shortage, driver costs were the biggest challenge faced by the industry. The US trucking industry can be divided into three main sectors: full truckload (FTL), less-than-truckload (LTL), and couriers.

Numerous factors impacted how the industry functioned and changed the way work is received within this industry. While many companies within this industry are going under due to harsh market conditions, many choose to go the alternative route and merge with others.

According to an industry survey, some key trucking service companies' offerings include FTL, logistics services, brokerage, LTL, temperature control, and intermodal.

Competitive Landscape

The North American freight and logistics market is expected to grow due to economic growth, growing population, and industrialization. However, the lack of the government’s commitment to the development of seaports or road networks and reconfigured supply chains, with the growing local production and consumption units, are expected to hamper the market’s growth. New competitors are entering the market with customized and industry-specific services. Some of the major players in the market include XPO Logistics Inc, J B Hunt Transport Services, Deutsche Post DHL, United Parcel Service, C H Robinson Worldwide, Penske Logistics, and Grupo Traxion.

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