“Better times are on the horizon for trucking companies.”
Avery Vise, vice-president for trucking at FTR, has some words fleets will be eager to hear. The recovery is slow and there remains an imbalance between freight demand and capacity.
TCI climbs higher in April
The Trucking Conditions Index (TCI) of FTR showed a slight improvement in April. It jumped to -1.95, but remained in the negative territory.
It was still a better month than the previous one, March, which had a -7.25. Improving freight rates, financing costs and freight volumes helped improve the outlook of fleets.
FTR expects the index to remain mostly in negative territory for the remainder of this year.
Avery Vise, FTR’s vice-president for trucking, said that “better days are in sight” for trucking companies.
“The May trucking payroll jobs figures offered some encouragement that the transition is underway. However, a healthier situation will require continued rightsizing capacity and stronger volumes. We do not expect carriers to experience consistently favorable market conditions until early next year.
Spot Market Conditions Improving
The FTR Transportation Intelligence and Truckstop Transportation Intelligence data for the week ending June 7 showed that rates were stable, but load postings increased sharply.
The Market Demand Index, at 81.7, was the highest level since the first weeks of 2023.
Although the week was positive in general, rates for dry-van and refrigerated loads declined while flatbed rates increased for the fourth consecutive week – the first time since January.
All equipment types saw rates drop, but they are still lower than last year.