Initially, when the word of this coronavirus hit the media, as many others, I did not know quite what to make of it. I remember hearing remarks about it being related to Corona beer and being just an anomaly in some remote region in China- perhaps from eating things that most westerners could not fathom eating.

Similar to dry van and reefer, flatbed rates have been dramatically impacted by COVID. After dropping notably through April and May 2020, they steadily climbed through the rest of 2020. Rates somewhat plateaued in early 2021, but have been further impacted by major weather disruptions.

If Covid-19 and our highly-stressed supply chain in North America has taught us anything, it is that we must continuously adapt and change. When so many factors are out of our control, the best we can do is focus on what we can control. What worked to move goods from Point A to Point B pre-COVID-19 may simply not work today. Or best case, it may not work nearly as well as we would like.