Back in January we started our History of Overland Commerce series. The first installment took a look at the early days of trucking, back when the automobile was new and the depression was still a recent event in everyone’s mind.
This week we’re going to dive into part two of this three-part series and take a look at how today’s modern trucking industry came to be. How have world wars and economic downturns affected the trucking industry that we see today?
The Age of the Automobile
Our last installment of the History of Overland Commerce ended with the Motor Carrier Act of 1935. It was the post-rail, pre-air transportation era, and trucking was on the ascent.
The herculean effort to provide heavy machinery for World War II resulted in an industrial explosion the likes of which had never been seen before. Truck manufacturers rode the wave as defense contracts encouraged big truck and heavy-duty vehicle production as part of the ongoing war effort.
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The 40’s and 50’ also saw a huge population shift from the city to the suburb. This migration to the outskirts, away from existing rail lines, introduced a new challenge for the transportation of goods and services. This was when trucking saw its second big revival.
This also meant the existing highway infrastructure needed a major update. These were the days when highway funding wasn’t a political football being kicked around Capitol Hill.
The Age of Trucking
By the early 1960’s engine manufacturers such as U.S. Cummins and British Perkins began supplying the market with reliable diesel engines. This marked the beginning of trucking’s conversion from standard gasoline to diesel.
The commercial trucking industry saw new engine designs with a focus on performance. Direct-injection, turbo-charged diesel engines were rapidly becoming the standard during the 1950’s.
As the world began to modernize, the road and highway conditions in most countries improved dramatically. Suddenly powertrains and transmissions were evolving to meet the increasing demands of a rising tide of overland commerce.
Trucks were being built to go longer distances, travel at higher speeds and haul heavier loads. Manufacturers were beginning to build higher levels of endurance into their trucks. By the late 1960’s the American trucking industry was leading the way in air suspension.
Other innovations included multi-axle vehicles and articulated truck designs. These new ideas in trucking were crucial to handling the coming age of rising energy costs.
The Age of Energy Costs
Through the 1970’s and 80’s trucking continued to build out as a necessary element of the global supply chain. Truck manufacturers responded to the energy crisis of the 1970’s by focusing on the production of more aerodynamic, fuel-efficient trucks.
In the 1980’s the federal deregulation of the industry finally created uniformity with existing state laws, which paved the way for double-trailers and coast-to-coast carriers.
Trucking was booming, but by the 1990’s, energy was once again returning as a pressing concern. Today, fuel remains readily available, and though prices are currently at a low point, for most of the past 20 years they’ve remained higher than historical averages.
There’s a new low in energy costs, and that low is still higher than the national average even post-1970’s, even when accounting for inflation and other economic factors. Will the industry be able to maintain a level of efficiency that doesn’t end up hitting the bottom line?
The Age of Technology
Technology has made an entrance into trucking in a big way, as we’ve been reporting. Most of this is an effort to control costs and meet new compliance standards, but also to improve performance and keep up with the rapidly changing needs of an evolving supply chain.
The trucks of tomorrow may be driven by robots or powered by an alternative fuel we have yet to conceive. Mass transportation has clearly been the catalyst of our modern global economy.
How trucking and technology combine has been a hot topic, and will be one we take another in-depth look at when we continue our series, The History of Overland Commerce. Stay tuned for part three in the installment: The Trucking Industry of the Future.