Shippers Conditions Index

FTR’s Shippers Conditions Index in July Reflects Marginal Improvement in Market Conditions

FTR’s Shippers Conditions Index for July ticked up ever so slightly to 0.5 from June’s 0.3 reading. Softer capacity utilization and slightly weaker freight rates led to a marginally better overall market for shippers during the month, offsetting less favorable fuel costs.

The outlook for shippers' conditions over the next couple of years remains soft but not especially negative with index readings forecast at close to neutral territory. Fuel costs could determine whether the SCI is either slightly positive or slightly negative in any given month.

Avery Vise, FTR’s vice president of trucking, commented, “Aside from disruptions caused by labor strife at the ports or by weather, shippers likely will not see much change market conditions during the months ahead. We expect an incremental tightening of capacity and, eventually, freight rates but nothing that resembles the upcycles of 2017 or 2020, for example.”

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This index represents four major conditions in the U.S. full-load freight market. These metrics are combined into a single index that tracks the market conditions that influence a shipper's freight transportation environment.

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FTR’s Shippers Conditions Index in July Reflects Marginal Improvement in Market Conditions