Shipping Impacts: What You Need to Know

Current Shipping Impacts on North American Markets

Many businesses, including Freeman, are continuing to experience difficulties with an at-capacity shipping industry struggling to meet demand. Here's what you need to know and how we can help.

Constraints on Drivers
Trucking employment gained back only 10,900 jobs in August from the 94,000 trucking jobs lost since April. This is meaningfully below pre-COVID employment.

Lead Time Challenges
In addition to limited personnel, hurricane relief efforts and California's wildfires have limited truck routes in those areas. Fewer drivers carrying larger loads has increased lead times across the board.

Price Increases
Additional surcharges have been imposed to offset costs of new health safety protocols.

This map shows regional DAT Load to Truck Ratio values for August 31 through September 6, 2020. A 5:1 ratio or below is undesirable.

What You Can Do

Check In
Keep in contact as much as possible with your local branch and local tech sales rep. They can provide you with up-to-date information on inventory and demand.

Plan Ahead
Let us know as much in advance as you can for an order. The extra notice will allow for any potential shipping delays.

Keep Us Informed

Our supply chain team coordinates transfers to our satellite locations based on demand. If you are able to anticipate your future needs, let us know so we can allocate the product you need and reduce shipping costs as much as possible.

Are You a Freeman 360° Member?
You're automatically enrolled in our exclusive online portal after your first order with us! Create an online account at www.FreemanSupply.com to get access to list pricing, direct ordering, shipment tracking, consignment management, and more!