Battling the Capacity Crunch
Freight transportation has been interesting over the past two-plus years.
You're scrambling to meet your customers' needs in this freight market that’s low on equipment and drivers and high in uncertainty. We’d like to let you know about some steps we’re taking to help you respond.
There's still an unprecedented demand for trailers, but manufacturing constraints are making it hard on all of us. Backlogs are at an all-time high.
So we’ve gotten creative to make in-fleet trailers ready for and available to you:
- We've paused selling trailers to make them available for you to rent.
- We quickly make down trailers road-ready, always adhering to our high standards to keep your XTRA trailers safe and working well.
- We're buying components that have been affected by supply chain constraints so we can repair down trailers quickly and get them back in the rental pool. These pre-buys help keep our costs down, which in turn helps keep your costs down.
Technology helps, too:
- Your driver can get in and out of our branch fast thanks to technology-supported contactless pick-ups and drop-offs and texts that give the trailer’s location in our yard.
- Monitoring and control telematics on all our new reefers – free to you – help you keep the produce or pharmaceuticals or whatever temperature-controlled products you haul at the proper setpoint. These tools also provide the data to back it up,
which can help you avoid costs related to improper temperature control.
- A new account portal and mobile app coming soon will help you manage your account more easily and help keep your XTRA trailers visible and working efficiently for you.
Looking Ahead
Capacity will remain tight as manufacturers continue to work through production constraints.
We're claiming production slots as soon as they open so we can make more trailers available to you as soon as possible.
But before we get there, we have to deal with the increased costs of steel, tires and components that are causing trailer prices to rise and cause backlogs. We won’t skimp on our specs for high performance and efficiency, though. You’ll always get the XTRA value that comes with every XTRA trailer.
We stand firm in our customer commitment. When you rent or lease from us, you're working with the industry leader, a supplier you can trust.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us to
talk about your trailer needs. We’ve got your back and, whenever possible, your backhaul.
Learn more about XTRA's value:
