After spiking to a 11.44 positive reading in December 2018, FTR’s Trucking Conditions Index fell back to 5.79 in January as was expected.
The January level was attributed to higher costs of capital along with lower freight demand and capacity utilization. Even the January level will not be sustained for long as conditions for trucking are expected to moderate further toward neutral territory through at least Q3.
Avery Vise, FTR vice-president of trucking, said: “Trucking conditions in January were not the outlier that December conditions were, but the industry still enjoyed much lower diesel costs than had been the case for most of 2018. With diesel prices now rising and capacity utilization and freight rates easing, we would expect January to represent the high point for trucking conditions in 2019.”