“Better days are in sight for trucking companies, but the market still needs to work through the tough combination of too much capacity and sluggish freight demand,” Avery Vise, FTR vice president of trucking, said in a news release. “The May payroll jobs figures for trucking offered some encouragement that this transition is underway, but a healthier situation for carriers will require continued rightsizing of capacity and stronger volume.
“We still do not expect consistently favorable market conditions for carriers until early next year.”
The TCI tracks the changes representing five major conditions in the U.S. truck market: Freight volumes, freight rates, fleet capacity, fuel prices, and financing costs. The individual metrics are combined into a single index indicating the industry’s overall health. A positive score represents good, optimistic conditions. Conversely, a negative score represents bad, pessimistic conditions. Readings near zero are consistent with a neutral operating environment, and double-digit readings in either direction suggest significant operating changes are likely.
