FTR's Shippers Conditions Index (SCI) ran positive for September, the company announced Tuesday. The SCI is up from August's -2.7. September's reading is 0.35; FTR attributes the increase to diesel prices and other market conditions stabilizing.
"The neutral reading just above zero shows a relatively stable result, but it moves the index back into positive territory on an easing of diesel prices," says Todd Tranausky, FTR vice president of rail and intermodal. "Otherwise, the market is little changed. Moving forward, it is likely that diesel prices will determine what the change in the index will be for the next few months."
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The SCI tracks changes representing the four major conditions in the U.S. full-load freight market. These conditions are freight demand, freight rates, fleet capacity and fuel price. The individual metrics are combined into a single index that tracks market conditions that influence shippers' freight transport environment. A positive score is an optimistic condition. A negative score is a pessimistic condition.
