Trucking Conditions Index

Trucking Conditions Index in April Was Strongest Reading Since February 2022

FTR’s Trucking Conditions Index jumped to 11.6 in April, which is the strongest reading for the index in more than four years. Fuel costs again were a negative for the TCI although a far smaller one than in March, which registered a TCI reading of -1.1. All key market factors were more favorable for carriers in April than they were in March. Freight rates and capacity utilization were by far the largest contributors.

Avery Vise, FTR’s vice president of trucking, commented, “While surging fuel costs in the past couple of months obviously created cash flow crunches for many operations, tight capacity and surging freight rates are more than offsetting that challenge, broadly speaking.

“For the overall market, the missing element needed to continue the acceleration in market conditions is freight volume, which is growing but not especially strongly. The demand picture varies quite substantially by sector, however. For example, flatbed operations are benefiting both from capacity constraints and strong freight volume, which appears to be tied to a combination of data center construction and a recent modest recovery in manufacturing activity.

“We expect overall trucking conditions to peak this summer, but our TCI forecast remains solidly favorable for carriers over the two-year forecast horizon.”

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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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Trucking Conditions Index in April Was Strongest Reading Since February 2022