Business View Magazine - August 2023

149 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 10, ISSUE 8 WASHINGTON TRUCKING ASSOCIAT ION freight, as Call points out. Retailers have opted to cut back on inventories, thus translating to a big slowdown in imports. The current levels of runaway inflation and lessened consumer demand are also important factors, as Call notes. “We’re feeling that,” she adds, “especially in some segments of the industry.” There have been aspects both pro and contra, regarding the restrictions stemming from the pandemic, as Call acknowledges. One of the latter is the shortage of truckers these days. She cites the American Trucking Research Institute (or ATRI) and a survey of trucking- related issues it recently conducted. The driver shortage has been an ongoing problem for several years now, and it affects carriers of all types. Carriers have