Hurricane Season: Is Your Supply Chain Weather Resistant?

Summer Storms

It’s summer! Here in the midwest we are experiencing long, sunny days. And it’s been hot, hot, hot. After a cold, wet, winter the sunshine and warmth are welcome. Here at AM Transport, we love summer, cooking out, swimming, and enjoying time on one of the three lakes in Richland County.

We hope you’re enjoying a wonderful (and yes, HOT) midwestern summer. But we also want you to be aware of the summer hurricane season. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has predicted an “above-normal 2022 Atlantic hurricane season” with approximately 14-21 named storms. A named storm means it comes with winds of 39 mph or higher. Out of these 14-21 storms, they are predicting that 6-10 of them could become hurricanes. A hurricane blows in with winds of 74 mph or higher. According to NOAA, this is the seventh consecutive year with above average hurricane totals.

So why is a midwestern freight broker worried about hurricane season?

How adverse weather affects your supply chain

It doesn’t matter where you are located. You can (and most likely will be) affected by adverse weather in another part of the country if you are shipping goods by trucks. That’s because most domestic trucking companies operate in a hub and spoke network.

Trucks in the hub have outbound freight that drives them away from their home base. But in order to return home (and to make money on the trip), these trucks need inbound freight. Typically these runs out from the hub and back in are fairly predictable, and that helps freight brokers create freight networks, contract freight, and stabilize rates for manufacturers.

But when a hurricane slams the gulf coast, things can get chaotic in a hurry. And that creates a ripple effect because bad weather in one area of the country can prevent a truck from following its normal routes. One disruption can upend multiple freight networks.

And this can go on for months due to a backlog. When freight doesn’t move for a while due to an extreme weather event, it will jam up the freight networks because it has to move eventually. And that means limited truck capacity and elevated rates.

Check out our explainer video on the weather effect!

We’re ready.

At AM Transport Services, we’re ready for bad weather–even when it’s beautiful outside–because we work with the best small-to-mid sized carriers in the midwest. We’ve been  helping manufacturers for 33 years, and we have long-term relationships with folks and facilities all along the supply chain. When extreme weather occurs, we’ve got the connections, the technology, and the knowledge to ensure you weather the storms.