Whether we're talking Christmas or the Fourth of July, holiday freight shipping requires careful planning to avoid costly disruptions, rate spikes, and capacity shortages.
By understanding how holidays affect the trucking market and proactively preparing your supply chain, you can keep freight moving smoothly without blowing your budget.
At Anderson Trucking Service (ATS), we've been helping shippers navigate the predictable seasonal cycles in freight transportation for more than 70 years. This experience has allowed us to identify the top strategies for holiday shipping that have proven effective year after year.
In this article, we'll divulge three of these critical planning tips, to help you enter this peak shipping season with total confidence. Let's get started!
Key Takeaways
- National holidays cause trucking capacity to tighten both before and after break periods
- Backhaul freight opportunities can help offset rising costs when planned correctly
- Flexibility, early communication, and advanced scheduling are your best tools for saving money on holiday freight shipping
How Holidays Affect the Trucking Industry
Each time a national holiday approaches, the trucking industry shifts in ways that directly impact shippers. Many drivers adjust their schedules to spend time at home, which reduces the available pool of trucks on the road. This tightening of holiday trucking capacity often drives rates higher, especially for loads moving into less-traveled regions.
Backhaul trucking also plays a larger role during these times. Drivers looking to return home for the holidays often take discounted loads headed in their direction. Shippers with flexible routes and timelines can take advantage of these opportunities to save on costs.
Conversely, freight bound for remote destinations can be much harder to cover, sometimes at premium prices.
What Happens After a Holiday?
Don't expect to wake up on Dec. 26 to a completely normal supply chain. Even when the holiday itself has passed, the days following major holidays can still bring a major crunch.
Pent-up demand delayed over the holiday collides with limited capacity availability, keeping rates elevated for several days. This can continue for up to a week or more, depending on the holiday.
Without proper planning your freight could face both delays and inflated costs during the holiday rebound period.
A good transportation partner will help you navigate the capacity crunch accompanying the most difficult holidays. Work with your provider to schedule your freight’s transport efficiently and effectively over these post-holiday periods.
Which Holidays Impact Freight Shipping the Most?
While every holiday affects capacity to some extent, mid-week holidays like Independence Day create especially sharp disruptions.
Christmas and New Year’s represent the most challenging periods overall for shippers, as heightened consumer demand, limited driver availability, and end-of-quarter shipping deadlines collide to create severe market pressure.
Understanding these dynamics is essential for effective holiday freight shipping strategies, which we'll get into next.
3 Planning Tips for Shipping Freight Around a Holiday
1. Be Flexible With Timeframes
If there’s ever a time to stress flexibility in your processes, this is it.
Rigid pickup and delivery windows make it harder (and more expensive) for carriers to meet your needs. Offering flexibility allows carriers to plan efficient routes and helps you tap into better pricing options.
Why It Works: Trucking companies like to plan out their flow of trucks days in advance. The more flexibility you can offer them, the more likely it is they'll be able to find you a spot on their schedule at a great rate.
Even seemingly small schedule adjustments can reduce costs when holiday trucking capacity is tight. If your timelines can shift even one day — or a handful of hours! — it could make a significant difference to your bottom line.
2. Coordinate with Consignees Early
Misaligned schedules or miscommunications between shippers, receivers, and carriers often lead to costly delays, especially over holiday periods.
Before a holiday, confirm that your consignees will be open and able to receive freight. An unexpected truck arriving at an empty facility would be unfortunate for all involved!
Why It Works: Communicating early and often reduces the possibility of miscommunication or scheduling snafus by giving all parties more opportunities to connect. This is particularly critical as we approach holidays, as many locations may not have the holiday staffing to support your regular delivery schedule.
By collaborating to make a holiday shipping plan that works for everyone involved, you can eliminate the risk of costly delays, strengthen your relationships, and protect your bottom line.
3. Give Your Provider Ample Lead Time
The more notice you provide, the better your carrier can secure the right truck at the right price.
Aim for at least 48–72 hours of lead time before pickup. We recommend erring on the higher side of that range (or higher) the closer you get to a major holiday.
Why It Works: Remember when we said carriers like to plan out their trucks in advance — and that you can use that to your advantage? The same logic applies to this strategy. If your carrier knows the details of your shipment three or more days before it has to move, they won't have to scramble to find a truck.
The additional time allows them to find advantageous backhaul opportunities, seek out the best-fit truck and driver, and avoid costly last-minute solutions.
Why Your Carrier Quality Matters
Managing holiday freight shipping is complex, but you don't have to do it alone. In addition to the three shipper-driven strategies we've provided in this article, it's important to remember that a great transportation provider is a resource you can lean on all year round.
A strong transportation provider brings:
- Clear communication between shippers, carriers, and consignees
- Proactive planning to avoid disruptions
- Market expertise to secure the best possible rates
Combine this knowledge and experience with your expertise in your business's supply chain and shipping needs, and you have a holiday recipe for success.
With the right strategy and support, you can protect your budget and keep freight moving — no matter what day it is on the calendar.
Request a freight quote from ATS today, and we'll jump right into planning a holiday shipping strategy you can feel confident about.
