The FTR Experts were posed with the question, "As demand shifts from goods to services, will there be a dropoff for goods?"
This Q&A response from the FTR experts came from the January 2021 State of Freight webinar, Preparing for 2021. View the video and the key takeaways below and then leave a comment at the bottom to let us know what you think.
Key Takeaways:
- We expect a slowing of growth, not necessarily a drop-off, unless we see the economy contracting and pulling back again.
- There is a large sector of our country that haven't been buying goods at all due to their financial situation that will be buying goods again with recovery.
- If you bring back the service industry, employment increases and the purchase of goods along with it.
- Looking back at the Great Recession, we can make comparisons to some of the extraordinary things that happened, but keep in mind that they happened over a period of 12-18 months.
- Shutdowns across the country put you in an environment where things start to ease again. We're not expecting that right now. But it is a possibility that we cannot completely discount.
- We finally have seen a huge increase in final mile delivery. And what does that look like for online retailers? That shift has been dramatic and we cannot overstate that enough.
- With democrats over the both Houses of Congress and the White House, there is the possibility of another Cares Act. It is conceivable for there to be another 3 trillion dollar program that allows us to shut down for a month.
- A potential issue is spending on goods in the first half of the year and then a shift where people start saving.
