COLUMBUS, Ind. – Supply and demand balance and volumes have decreased while freight rates continue to decline, according to ACT Research’s For-Hire Trucking Index.
The ACT For-Hire Trucking Index is a monthly survey of for-hire trucking service providers. ACT Research converts responses into diffusion indexes, where the neutral or flat activity level is 50.
Tim Denoyer, vice president and senior analyst at ACT Research, said that volumes softened to the lowest levels seen since March and April of 2020, on tepid consumer demand, overstocked retail inventories and declining imports.
He added that there are signs of progress on destocking.
“The reading continues to reflect a loose trucking market and a late stage in the freight cycle,” Denover said. “But capacity growth slowed sharply among our respondents, who represent sizable fleets, which will help us transition from this oversupplied stage of the cycle back into the early stage when rates recover.”
Denover said power clearly shifted to shippers over the course of 2022, but there is a slower decline this month that may be a sign the bottoming process is beginning, consistent with the slowing in capacity growth.
The ACT Freight Forecast provides forecasts for spot truckload rates by trailer type for four to six quarters and truck volumes and contract rates for three years for the truckload, less-than-truckload and intermodal segments of the transportation industry.
In 2019, the average accuracy of the report’s truckload spot rate forecasts was 98%.
The ACT Research Freight Forecast uses equipment capacity modeling and the firm’s economics expertise to provide unprecedented visibility for the future of freight rates, helping businesses in transportation and logistics management plan for the future with confidence.
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