FTR says its Trucking Conditions Index (TCI) hit 11.6 in April, the strongest reading in more than four years, even with high fuel costs.
"While surging fuel costs in the past couple of months obviously created cash flow crunches for many operations, tight capacity and surging freight rates are more than offsetting that challenge, broadly speaking," says Avery Vise, FTR vice president of trucking.
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Freight rates and capacity utilization were, by far, the largest contributors to the index, FTR says.
"For the overall market, the missing element needed to continue the acceleration in market conditions is freight volume, which is growing but not especially strongly," Vise says. "The demand picture varies quite substantially by sector, however."
Flatbed operations, for example, are benefiting from capacity constraints and strong freight volume tied to data center construction and a recovery in manufacturing activity.
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"We expect overall trucking conditions to peak this summer, but our TCI forecast remains solidly favorable for carriers over the two-year forecast horizon," Vise says.
The TCI tracks changes in the five major conditions in the U.S. truck market: freight volumes, freight rates, fleet capacity, fuel prices and financing costs. Those metrics are combined into a single index indicating the industry's health. A positive score represents good, optimistic conditions. A negative score represents bad, pessimistic conditions. Readings near zero are consistent with a neutral operating environment. Double-digit readings in either direction suggest significant operating changes are likely.
