BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — FTR’s Trucking Conditions Index (TCI) hits a record low for 2025 in June.
“We still forecast a steadily but only modestly more favorable market for carriers next year,” said Avery Vise, FTR’s vice president of trucking. “However, swings in freight volume and fuel prices – and to a lesser extent, freight rates – continue to generate volatility in trucking conditions. Capacity utilization has been the most stable factor, but it has been only marginally beneficial to trucking companies. So far, the economy is weathering tariffs and other stresses better than anticipated, and our latest freight outlook is not as weak as it was previously. At least in the near term, though, we still believe forecast risks are weighted more to the downside than the upside.”
The TCI swung to -1.83 in June from the strong 3.56 reading in May. The June index reading is the lowest to date in 2025 while the May reading was the strongest since October 2022. The big drop in June was due primarily to freight rates and fuel prices. The expectation is for trucking conditions to be much closer to neutral during most of the second half of 2025.
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.
