The freight shipping industry has been on a fantastic ride for the last few years. The volume of shipments has increased exponentially and the number of freight forwarders and shipping providers has increased dramatically in order to keep up with demand. Although the freight shipping industry was impacted by the global recession in 2008 with many companies facing bankruptcy or going into receivership, overall the industry has remained bullish. The reason for the strength of the industry is simple – businesses and individuals will always need to have their goods and products shipped to their customers.

Since the global marketplace has opened up drastically worldwide, it is now possible for consumers to shop twenty-four hours a day and for e-tailers to remain open in order to meet that demand. Naturally, with constant business being transacted, it means that freight shipping providers will always have work. The biggest problem currently facing the freight forwarders of the world is how to sustain the level of growth that they have been experiencing. It may not seem like a very complex issue, but it is, in fact, one of the most important that the shipping industry must resolve. The world’s shipping needs are currently being met because the infrastructure needed to sustain it is already in place. The problem arises from the fact that the current infrastructure is being used almost to capacity. If the freight shipping industry wants to continue expanding, it will have to begin creating new infrastructure to support the increase.

Now, creating the infrastructure requires financing – something that the freight shipping companies may lack, and governments might not see the need to invest in building new ports, airports, railways and highways if they cannot see an immediate financial return from doing so. However, even if the governments from around the world were able to commit to building the needed infrastructure to allow the freight shipping industry to continue expanding, the creation of these new ports and airports will take time. The time needed to build the necessary infrastructure will, inevitably, have an impact on the speed of growth that the freight shipping industry is experiencing.

So, while it is true that the freight shipping sector can continue to expand for the foreseeable future, the long range forecast is far from clear. What is definitely clear is that the industry will have to begin investing in its future and also in finding ways to mitigate the eventual slowdown that all industry analysts know is coming.

The other very important point of consideration when it comes to the freight shipping industry is its negative environmental footprint. Engineers working for the shipping industry have been working on creating more powerful, more efficient engines for their sea and air carriers and they have also been working on ways of eliminating waste from their business model. However, the progress in this area is limited and still needs a lot of research and development to produce significant results. At least the reduction of the freight shipping industry footprint is on the agenda and being worked on diligently.