With Memorial Day 2025 just around the corner, the unofficial start of summer is here for the U.S.; this means that most kids will be out of school, and families are starting their summer vacations. Whether they are planning short excursions to a local park or reserve or going on a long trip, many American families plan to be out on the open road. This means that there will be more passenger cars sharing the highways and byways with the heavy duty trucks already running back and forth across the country. Along with that, the summer months usually bring with them an uptick in the amount of freight being transported. It is important that everyone remembers that being safe on the road with these trucks is necessary for everyone to get to their destinations safely and receive the goods they all both need and desire. With that in mind, the LZBlog is discussing the current news concerning freight and traffic for the upcoming summer season.
Summer 2025: The State of Freight
The transportation industry is one that is well known to be in a constant state of flux. Shipments from overseas that land in ports to be moved inland, the seasonal needs of retailers with summer apparel and outdoor accessories, the yearly cycle of produce growth, plus so much more can decide how many trucks are on the road at any given time. This year, under the second Trump administration, the industry appears to be on a rollercoaster of ups and downs. As with every summer, though, there also comes the beginning of construction projects dealing with roads, homes, businesses, etc. Overall, the late spring and early summer usually see a dramatic uptick in freight loads moving all over the U.S. Only the threat of looming and new tariffs seems to make this uncertain for 2025.
Back in March of this year, FreightWaves held their “State of Freight” webinar, and, with the information they had collected over the year so far, they shared their predictions for the early summer months. While predicting a surge later in the summer due to the trade negotiations between China and the U.S., FreightWaves also had concerns because the cessation of the 145% tariffs were only for ninety days. Some freight is starting to rebound, but, with no indication of how the next round of negotiations will go, the economy is wary.
“Summer Days, Drifting Away…”
Along with the increasing amount of freight on the road, it is also important to remember that there will be many more people on the roads this summer. For that reason, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Administration (CVSA) has completed its annual “blitz week,” which occurred just last weekend! This annual event is when the CVSA teams up with local law enforcement officials to pull over and check heavy-duty trucks to ensure they are equipped with and using certain safety features. For 2025, these stops have focused on seeing if semi-trucks are maintaining their tires and are correctly logging their records of duty status, or RODS.
Memorial Day is just around the corner as well! While this holiday focuses on honoring and remembering fallen U.S. servicemen and women, it is also the unofficial start of the summer travel season. Although the cost of transporting freight tends to go up during this time due to office and warehouse closings, there are still thousands of truck drivers who forego spending time with their families in order to make a little extra money by hauling goods during this time. It is important as shippers and receivers to be aware of this and make sure that there is someone available to sign for and unload freight during this time. Otherwise, truckers are forced to sit on the shipments and cannot get paid or go home.
Conclusion
With the 2025 summer months finally here, there will be an increase in freight and traffic during the latter part of the month, and even well into June and July. This is a dangerous time of year for truckers and passenger car drivers and occupants alike. TruckerNews.com released their updated figures for crashes in 2022, and, while there were no real surprises, the numbers are still dismal. In 2022, 1,097 people occupying a large truck died in accidents, an 8.5% increase from 2021. The number of people injured in crashes with heavy-duty trucks rose to over 160,000. While there are lot of factors that control how many trucks are out on the road in the summer, it is important that all drivers on the road take care while travelling. Passenger car drivers and truck drivers alike can protect each other while driving America’s highways and byways this summer!
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Meaghan Goldberg covers recruitment and digital marketing for Lionzone. A Patterson, GA native, after graduating from both Valdosta State University and Middle Tennessee State University, Meaghan joined Lionzone in 2018 as a digital recruitment strategist before becoming the social media manager.
Resources:
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/state-of-freight-reasons-to-be-bullish-on-second-half-of-2024
https://www.atsinc.com/blog/trucking-industry-may-what-to-know
https://cvsa.org/programs/international-roadcheck/focus-area/
