The "5-Minute Fix" Each section delivers a clear win for you and your company in under a minute.
Industry Highlights 🚚
📉 Port of LA Imports Plunge as Tariffs Squeeze U.S. Businesses
Imports through the Port of Los Angeles dropped 19% in May 2024 compared to the same month last year, as new U.S. tariffs hit Asian goods. The port handled 409,150 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of imports, down from over 500,000. Officials warn ongoing trade tensions could shrink freight volumes and disrupt logistics strategies nationwide.
🚛 $10 B Autonomous Freight Monorail Between Texas–Mexico
A groundbreaking infrastructure initiative just got approved: a 165-mile elevated corridor connecting Laredo, TX and Monterrey, MX using autonomous diesel-electric shuttles to move trailers. Set to ease congestion and complement traditional truck and rail traffic, construction begins within five years.
🚚 35% of U.S. Truck Miles Are Empty: between 20%–35% of the roughly 175 billion miles trucks drive annually are "empty miles", costing fleets in fuel, time, and carbon emissions (~87 million metric tons/year).
⛽ 35 Billion Gallons of Fuel Burned by Trucks Annually: heavy-duty trucks consume approximately 39 billion gallons of diesel per year, accounting for 75% of total trucking fuel use.
💰61 Billion Empty Miles Cost Thousands of Dollars in Emissions: ~61 billion miles driven empty translates to over 87 million metric tons of CO₂, plus wasted fuel and wear & tear.
Tactical Tips for Trucking Companies💡
Assign Routes in Seconds, Not Hours
➡️ Stop juggling spreadsheets. When the plan is set, hit “assign” and boom—drivers get their manifest + instructions. No need to chase them down with texts all day.
🧠 Pro move: Do your batch assigning first thing in the morning while sipping coffee. It’s that quick.
Snap That POD and Move On
➡️ No printer? No problem. Drivers can snap a quick pic of the delivery, mark it complete, and move on. You get proof. They stay rolling.
📸 Also handy when someone swears they “never got it.” Boom. Photo evidence.
Make Dispatch Less of a Headache
➡️ Use templates for common routes, quick notes for driver instructions, and share docs straight from the platform. No more 5-tab chaos or “did you email that?”
Trucking is a margin game and every wasted minute, mile, or manual task eats into your bottom line. This month, we’re breaking down simple, high-impact ways to cut costs without cutting corners. These are the kind of tactical moves that make life easier for your team and your budget.
Ready to tighten up operations and unlock real savings? Let’s go.
Get Real About Dwell Time
Trucks sitting at docks = time lost, money burned. Track how long each stop takes, then talk to those slow-loading customers or adjust your planning.
⏱️ Small time savings at each stop = way fewer overtime hours.
Let Tech Handle the Repeat Work
Still calling every carrier to confirm loads? Or copy-pasting routes into emails? Automate it. Cut down dispatch time, avoid mistakes, and free up your team for real problems.
🧠 Less admin = more output with the same headcount.
Optimize Routes Daily
Don’t rely on “what worked last week.” Re-optimize routes as orders change to avoid zig-zagging across town and burning fuel unnecessarily.
🛣️ Dynamic routing can cut fuel costs by 10–15% over time.
Simplify Billing with Better Load Tracking
Invoices go out faster when loads are tracked and marked as delivered automatically. No more chasing PODs or updating spreadsheets manually.
If your entire logistics operation lives inside one person’s head… listen up.
You don’t have a system, you have a single point of failure.
The “retiring dispatcher” problem is real: 📉 Tribal knowledge = slow onboarding ⏳ Months of shadowing = expensive ramp time 🧩 Zero redundancy if someone gets sick or leaves 🔁 High turnover = endless retraining + operational drag
We recently reconnected with a long-time customer and here’s what stood out:
Everyone we used to know on their team? Gone.
But their dispatchers today are still running smoothly on Headlight.
Because the system became the knowledge.
When your process lives in software, not just in someone’s head, you don’t lose momentum when people move on.
Out & About 🚦
In Case You Missed It: The Real Cost of Messy Processes
We recently hosted a high-energy session breaking down the true cost of operational chaos and how to fix it.
Highlights included:
How to spot hidden inefficiencies before they drain your budget
What to automate (and what’s better left manual)
Tips to streamline your workflows (without blowing them up)
How to ditch the 47-tab spreadsheets and free your team from mindless data entry
If you lead a team, manage ops, or feel like duct tape is holding your process together… this one’s for you.
Headlight Solutions can be customized to integrate with ANY ERP system. This helps streamline your daily routing operations quickly and efficiently by combining your live order and fleet data with real time traffic data to produce routes that provide the most optimal reduction in freight, miles, and time for your fleet.
