BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — FTR’s Shippers Conditions Index for May was -15.4 – a slight improvement from April’s -17.4 but still among the six least favorable readings since 2000.
While market conditions for shippers in May were technically less severe than in March and April, that was small consolation as conditions remained extremely challenging, largely due to freight rates.
“As we have indicated for several months, there is little in the way of good news for shippers,” said Avery Vise, FTR’s vice president of trucking. “The SCI estimate for June is preliminary, but the one relative positive seemed to have been falling fuel costs. However, that factor very recently has stopped improving and could be reversing.”
According to Vise, the lone near-neutral contributor to the SCI recently has been – and is expected to be – lack of freight volume pressure on the transportation system, but that experience varies by type of equipment needed.
“While we expect market conditions to become less daunting for shippers in the months ahead, we expect the SCI to be consistently negative throughout the two-year forecast horizon,” Vise said. “Even worse, most risks to that forecast probably are to the downside for shippers.”
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.
