Freight challenges abound across industries that rely on trucks to ship goods. Planning ahead, being flexible and having realistic expectations for what is possible is important when preparing a shipment under current conditions.

The pandemic led to a driver shortage, and this has been compounded by fuel price hikes and congestion at ports. There’s even a shortage of containers available to ship goods overseas.

The news is slightly better for interstate shipments, but there is still tight capacity and some delays causing freight challenges domestically as well.

Lauren White, senior shipping specialist with Airways Freight, said they can respond to most domestic same-day requests as long as they are notified of a shipment before noon. Airways is being proactive regarding the driver shortage by offering more money to drivers to handle shipments.

White said she sees a lot more customers turning to air freight lately, due to the many freight challenges involving truckloads.

For successful shipments, White recommends providing at least 48 hours notice and as much details about the freight to be shipped as possible (specialized equipment required, shipper and receiver details, etc.).

Caloris e-newsletter subscribers have access to a freight set-up sheet template with this story. To sign up for the Caloris e-newsletter, click here.

Less-than-load (LTL) capacity is especially tight right now, White said.

Caloris and its subsidiary, Seitz Stainless, also are taking steps to be proactive about upcoming equipment shipments.

“Our project managers are keeping a close eye on shipping conditions, staying in close contact with our freight partners and getting creative where needed to make sure equipment arrives on schedule,” said Caloris President and CEO Jim Peterson.