How the New Tariff-Optimized Supply Chain Is a Big Win for Trucking
Summary
A 2025 overhaul of U.S. tariff policy has driven shippers to redesign networks around nearshoring and cross-border trucking, causing over-the-road freight share to jump by 8 percentage points to 32% of import value. Manufacturing relocation toward Mexico and Canada and an aversion to tariff uncertainty on long ocean transits pushed high-value cargo onto North American roadways while ocean freight share contracted by 10–12 percentage points. Customs complexity rose sharply—average HTS sequence counts nearly doubled and the informal low-value entry exemption for Canada and Mexico was terminated—producing a 79% spike in low-bracket filings and increased CBP USMCA audits. To manage duty exposure and liquidity, shippers and carriers increasingly use bonded warehouses and integrate customs-compliance into truck routing; carriers that become integrated compliance partners stand to capture the restructured North American shipping market.
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