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Fremont, CA: In many ways, the freight sector serves as the foundation for nearly all other industries. This is encouraging for the future of logistics firms, but it also places a great deal of responsibility on supply chains. Shortages in supply chains have repercussions across the companies and industries that rely on them.

Recent trends in other industries have increased trust in the freight industry. As a result of COVID-19 delays and shortages, many construction companies have turned to modular construction. This system provides an appealing opportunity for freight companies, but supply chain issues limit growth.

Here's a closer look at how the freight industry influences modular construction:

Module Safety

The safety of modules during transport is one of the most prominent supply chain concerns with modular construction. Because up to 90 percent of modular construction takes place inside a factory, logistics companies must ship the majority of an entire building. Transporting that much cargo is a difficult task.

A high-rise apartment building can have 20 or more floors and 20 or more units per floor. This means that supply chains may have to move 400 or more modules for a single project. This increases the possibility of something going wrong, especially given the size of these units.

Oversized cargo, such as building modules, is more vulnerable to damage. If a unit sustains enough damage, construction workers must devote time and money to repairing it. These possibilities are concerning because one of the primary arguments in favor of modular construction is reduced rework.

Unprecedented Disruption

Another lesson the pandemic taught the world was that disruptions could occur at any time and from any source. Uneven lockdown regulations in various locations slowed or stopped global and domestic supply chains. While the pandemic appears to be ending, businesses will not forget about these disruptions anytime soon.

Companies are becoming increasingly aware that their supply chain partners are unprepared to deal with unforeseen events. The construction industry already has a bad reputation for finishing projects late, and modular construction is meant to help. Because shipping disruptions have a greater impact on modular projects, these delays may stymie adoption.

Extensive disruption undermines modular construction's position as a more efficient alternative. If freight companies do not increase their confidence in their ability to work around disruptions, they will limit the growth of modular construction.