C.H. Robinson Predicts Supply Chain Pressures to Ease in 2022
By Tim Linden T here is not a quick nor easy fix, but a trio of executives from C.H. Robinson recently predicted that the supply chain issues that have plagued the nation during the pandemic will ease some in 2022, especially in the latter half of the year. The CHR experts—Steve Raetz, Director of Research and Market Intelligence; Christina Carroll, Vice President of LTL; and Alan Rowlett, Director of Global Operations—spoke during an hour-long webinar hosted by the company in early February. Raetz discussed the view from the 40,000-foot level and also covered domestic long-haul trucking, while Carroll addressed the situation for LTL (less than full loads), and Rowlett focused on overseas shipments via air and container ship.
Raetz said the good news is that the much-publicized shortage of drivers does appear to be easing. He noted that recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that December of 2021 had about 10,500 more trucking jobs than December of 2019. He explained that these statistics seem to show that the “trucking labor gap is in the rearview mirror.” (2021 was compared to 2019 rather than 2020 because the first year of the pandemic has proven to be a statistical anomaly and often data analysts are skipping it when making comparisons.) Raetz said carriers, who have been focusing on attracting labor to the space, apparently have been successful, although it has come at a financial cost. Compensation for truckers has increased significantly. In fact, he said the carrier KLLM has reported
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MARCH | APRIL 2022
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