BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — FTR’s Trucking Conditions Index barely changed in October, ticking up slightly to 0.89 from the 0.42 reading in September.
“Our forecasting model relies heavily on government economic data, so the 43-day shutdown has hampered our analysis as the data flow slowly resumes,” said Avery Vise, FTR’s vice president of trucking. “The Federal Reserve recently disclosed that manufacturing output since 2022 has been substantially weaker than previous figures indicated, including in certain capital goods needed for future industrial production. Carriers might need to reduce capacity even more than we previously thought to achieve a reasonable level of utilization, but we still believe that the only true fix for the trucking industry’s doldrums is stronger and sustained freight demand.”
For now, FTR still forecasts a mildly positive outlook for carriers’ market conditions through the forecast horizon, but lack of usual government economic data and revelations about the trajectory of the industrial sector over the past several years may shift the forecast soon.
Dana Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has been featured in multiple newspapers, books and magazines across the globe. She is currently based in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.
