CCJ‘s Indicators rounds up the latest reports on trucking business indicators on rates, freight, equipment, the economy and more.
FTR‘s Trucking Conditions Index, a measure of market conditions for trucking companies, tumbled to its lowest point in a year in September. FTR says the decline reflects stabilizing rates and freight demand, though the looming holiday shipping season will likely put upward pressure on the index in the year’s final quarter.
However, FTR predicts the index to soften gradually through most of next year.
“September is a near-term outlier that mostly reflects an unusually rapid stabilization of the spot market due to capacity gains, ongoing completion of bid cycles and continued adjustment to the electronic logging device environment,” says Avery Vise, FTR’s vice president of trucking. “A strong economy and labor market should make for a strong fourth quarter heading into a promising 2019, but it’s likely that trucking conditions have peaked in the current cycle.”
