Trucking Conditions Index

FTR’s Trucking Conditions Index Improved Marginally in October

FTR’s Trucking Conditions Index (TCI) barely changed in October, ticking up slightly to 0.89 from the 0.42 reading in September. 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.

Avery Vise, FTR’s vice president of trucking, commented, “ Our forecasting model relies heavily on government economic data, so the 43-day shutdown has hampered our analysis as the data flow slowly resumes. 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.”

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This index represents five major conditions in the U.S. full-load truck market. These metrics are combined into a single index that tracks the market conditions that influence fleet behavior.

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FTR’s Trucking Conditions Index Improved Marginally in October