FTR's Trucking Conditions index rose in May to positive territory. The company says the improvement comes from falling diesel prices and a more positive freight rate environment.
"Trucking is in the initial stages of a recovery, although it might be months before the market participants perceive much change," says FTR Vice President of Trucking Avery Vise says. "A big piece of May's positive TCI was lower fuel costs, but freight rates were also much less unfavorable for carriers than usual since the fourth quarter of 2022. We expect rates to be mostly stable overall through late this year with sport rates leading the way. However, the capacity overhang remains large and will delay anything that could remotely be called a rebound."
The company expects that May's positive reading of 2.24 is an outlier, and expects readings to return to negative territory through late this year.
More on the May TCI can be found in the July FTR Trucking Update. The TCI tracks 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. A negative score represents bad, pessimistic conditions. Readings near zero indicate a neutral operating environment.
