The economy’s been very tough on transportation. It normally impacts the transportation industry before other areas begin feeling it. We’ve seen a decrease in freight volume, which has been making it very difficult for carriers to be efficient, which in turn has forced them to reduce their capacity – they’ve actually taken out over 150,000 power units in the last 14 to 16 months.

By reducing the supply of available power units, the industry has worked to put the supply and demand curve back in line. Over time that will have a beneficial effect because as the economy returns, the carriers will be in a better position to work with their shippers to fill their lanes in a profitable manner. I think it’s a natural progression that over time the economy ebbs and flows and this is one where it went down. Clearly, over time the strong will survive and the industry will be better off as it comes out of this.

I think we’re on the back side of it now. There’s been a lot of failures and bankruptcies in the industry, but that has actually slowed down recently, which I hope means we’re coming out of it and we can start focusing on ways to capitalize on the it rebound. The last 14 to 16 months, carriers have been focusing on ways to control costs, cut back on capital spending, etc…, but I think now you’ll see the carriers start looking to the future. And as I mentioned, as the supply and demand has begun to get a little more in balance, the carriers will begin to spend more money and look at how they can continue to improve productivity and safety so that as things do rebound, they’re in a good position to take advantage of that.

One of the key things is to focus on what your priorities are; so as you look at where you want to be when this turns around, you’ll need to prepare for that. I’m sure you’re already focused on cost controls, so keep managing that. If you look out at the market and you ask yourself how you want to differentiate yourself going forward, you need to start planning for that today.

That can be manifested in a lot of different ways: you can be the safest, you can be the most productive, you can offer the best customer service, or you can have more lanes than you had before the downturn – so there’s many ways for a carrier to look for how they can thrive as the economy rebounds – but you have to lay that foundation now.

From a management standpoint, the leadership of the carrier has to pick those priorities, making it very clear to the organization, and have those in place as the economy rebounds.

I think there are four or five keys. The first is to refocus on your priorities. The second is – act confident, so act in a confident manner when you’re out there dealing with shippers. Thirdly, look at where you want to end up and make sure your employees work towards that end game. That way, when they’re working on projects, they’ll get an outcome that guides the company towards achieving the goals you have in mind. And lastly, leverage technology. Things are slower right now, so now’s the time to take advantage of the time available to do your research on what technology’s out there that can help you become more lean and more efficient. But before you make these investments, make sure you can point to a clear ROI – and an important part of that is working with your technology partner to make sure you going to get that ROI. The people selling technology are well-versed in how ROIs have to be delivered to justify the expense, so make sure that it’s there and it’s measureable.

Coming off a very tough 2008, the 2009 market looks like it has stabilized some, with bankruptcies down; fuel costs are down which is allowing carriers to come out of survival mode and look more at re-inventing themselves, so I think 2010 will be a year that we continue to re-build. And then in 2011, as the economy truly comes out of this recession, the carriers will thrive and be in a much better position to grow and to prosper.