Indicators: ‘Trucking Conditions’ hit second-best mark, signaling strong market for carriers

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Updated Sep 25, 2018
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CCJ‘s Indicators rounds up the latest reports on trucking business indicators on rates, freight, equipment, the economy and more.

FTR’s monthly Trucking Conditions Index, a measure of market conditions for trucking companies, hit its second highest point on record in July, FTR reported Monday. The reading signals a “strongly pro-carrier environment,” FTR says, with July’s reading second only to February’s reading. Key freight-generating sectors — manufacturing, construction and retail — remain strong, and the outlook for those sectors also remains positive, meaning that conditions for carriers will likely remain at record strength, FTR says.

“Carriers might not see stronger conditions in the current cycle, but they shouldn’t lose too much sleep over it,” says Avery Vise, FTR’s vice president of trucking. “We expect the TCI to remain in double-digit territory into 2019. With manufacturing and construction hot and the labor market tight, it would be very difficult for capacity growth to outstrip freight demand for quite some time.”