Ever since the Motor Carrier Act deregulated trucking in the early 1980s, retailers have had an opportunity to generate both revenue and efficiency through backhauling. It is an opportunity that has largely gone unrealized.
With backhauling, retailers are simply making use of the space in their trailers that becomes available after a delivery is made to a store. Why not pick up some product from a manufacturer on the way back to the retail distribution center rather than coming back empty-handed?
It makes sense, but several factors need to be in place. For one, a manufacturing facility has to be located in the right place. In addition, it requires a manufacturer willing to give up control of making its own deliveries and allow a retailer, or a third-party carrier representing the retailer, pick up its products. Finally, and perhaps most crucial, it requires a manufacturer and retailer coming to an agreement about the allowance the retailer will earn for handling this pickup -- an allowance that could net the retailer extra dollars.