The current transportation landscape is riddled with uncertainty. Threats of rising costs and tightening capacity, alongside looming regulatory changes suggest adaptability is no longer optional.
Transportation is already the most expensive component of a supply chain, accounting for more than half of a company’s total logistics cost. That pressure is set to intensify as new enforcement measures take hold across the trucking industry. An emergency interim rule announced in 2025 to restrict non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs), or licenses issued to foreign nationals legally in the United States who are not citizens or permanent residents, could significantly reduce available capacity. Although this rule is currently on hold, a comprehensive Department of Transportation (DOT) audit estimates 200,000 to 250,000 drivers would be impacted if enforcement proceeds.
In addition, the Standardized Assessment for Fluency in English (SAFE) Drivers Act is currently under Senate review, but this legislation would remove drivers who do not meet the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA)’s English proficiency requirements. This is currently enforced on a state-by-state basis and FMCSA records show more than 9,500 out-of-service violations tied to increased enforcement of levels of English-language proficiency. Industry analysts warn that a crackdown on non-domiciled CDL holders and drivers who fail to meet English-proficiency standards could remove 10-15 percent of total capacity from the market.
As these regulatory changes take shape, the risk of tighter capacity and higher transportation costs becomes increasingly difficult to ignore. The organizations best positioned to weather this shift will be those that move beyond awareness and take deliberate steps to strengthen their transportation strategies.
Building a Resilient Transportation Strategy
While the future conditions cannot be predicted, proactive steps can be taken to prepare for these projected changes.
Identify and protect core carriers
Focus on carrier partners with stable, resilient business models. These companies are best positioned to withstand market disruption and maintain reliable capacity when it matters most.
Establish longer-term contracts
Secure long-term agreements on core lanes to provide stability for both parties. Predictable volume commitments allow carriers to better protect capacity and manage risk in an increasingly volatile market.
Strategically approach volume and lanes
Refrain from spreading smaller volumes across a broad carrier base. Instead, concentrate higher volumes in strategic lanes with consistent, trusted partners to strengthen relationships and improve service reliability.
Evaluate your network
Assess the geographic footprint of your current storage providers. Do these locations still align with your broader network if rates rise? If storage decisions were made when freight was inexpensive and capacity was plentiful, more cost-effective network configurations could exist.
Working with a trusted transportation broker can simplify these challenges. Brokers act as strategic partners by helping you identify reliable carriers, negotiate contracts and optimize lanes while managing the day-to-day complexity of freight operations. With a broker’s expertise, you can focus on your core business and ensure your transportation strategy is resilient, cost-effective, and prepared for market fluctuations.
Leveraging WOW Logistics’ Transportation Services to Strengthen your Supply Chain
WOW Logistics is an industry-leading, food-grade storage provider with a dependable, non-asset-based brokerage. Our approach to brokering starts with partnerships with small to mid-size, reliable carriers. In fact, on average, our carrier partners have worked with us for at least 3.6 years, and 28 percent have been with us for five years or more. The longevity of these relationships is backed by impressive on-time pickup (OTP) and on-time delivery (OTD) performance, with WOW achieving 99.85 percent OTP and 99.79 percent OTD. This exceeds the performance of top asset-based carriers and far surpasses the broker average. It also exceeds the typical on-time performance requirements for the retail industry.
WOW offers contracted pricing that can be held for three, six, or 12 months, allowing customers to budget and be protected from market fluctuations. In addition, our trused carrier partners act as an extension of our business, consistently providing reliable service at competitve rates to best meet the needs of our customers.
WOW’s sizable carrier network also enables smarter network optimization by allowing companies to consolidate volumes on strategic lanes, reduce carrier fragmentation, and confidently select storage locations, knowing WOW’s transportation services can support their needs.
In an environment where rising costs, tightening capacity, and regulatory changes could pose threats, the right transportation broker can be a decisive advantage. WOW Logistics combines a resilient carrier network, proven performance, pricing stability, and hands-on expertise to help customers navigate complexity and prepare for what lies ahead. By partnering with WOW, organizations gain more than freight coverage. They gain a strategic ally committed to creating transportation strategies built to endure.