A looming driver shortage, rate increases and equipment dislocations are the main challenges that cargo interests will encounter over the next two years as the U.S. economic recovery continues, transportation experts told a Journal of Commerce Webcast recently.
The U.S. economy will continue to expand at a moderate pace with some downside risk associated with debt problems at home and in the European Union, said Mario Moreno, Journal of Commerce economist.
U.S. gross domestic product should expand 2 percent in 2013, with containerized imports increasing about 2.4 percent. If that growth is achieved, the total import volume of 17.8 million 20-foot container units will be the highest since 2007, he said.