FTR’s Trucking Conditions Index sees another month of strong activity

The most recent edition of the Trucking Conditions Index (TCI) from freight transportation consultancy FTR continues to highlight the ongoing strong freight demand and tight capacity in the trucking market.

The TCI reflects tightening conditions for hauling capacity and is comprised of various metrics, including capacity, fuel, bankruptcies, cost of capital and freight.

According to FTR, a TCI reading above zero represents an adequate trucking environment, with readings above 10 indicating that volumes, prices and margin are in a good range for carriers. For April, the most recent month for which data is available, the TCI reading is 11.5.

FTR said that motor carriers can expect these favorable conditions to remain intact into the third quarter and further on into 2019. And it added that the tight labor market, as well as the driver shortage, is holding carriers back from taking full advantage of the strong pricing outlook, even though it leads to higher labor costs.

“The latest jobs report suggests that carriers' aggressive driver recruiting efforts are paying off but additional growth in freight volumes, continued impact from electronic logging device implementation, and extreme tightness in the overall labor market should keep conditions highly favorable for carriers,” said Avery Vise, FTR vice president of trucking research, in a statement. “The TCI will remain at near record levels until at least the fourth quarter, when the market may begin to stabilize due to additional truck capacity.”