(Aug. 8, 2012) — FTR Associates expects its trucking index to get weaker throughout the remainder of the summer before improving in the fall.
FTR’s Trucking Conditions Index was slightly weaker than expectations, continuing its downward trend by declining a half point from to a reading of 4.5.
“We expect the index to further weaken slightly during the summer months but to remain in positive territory,” said Jonathan Starks, director of Transportation Analysis for FTR.
“Improvement will resume as we head into the Fall peak as traffic builds and the delayed introduction of new Federal regulations begin to restrict capacity.
“This trend will continue into 2013, culminating with the introduction of new Hours of Service rules by the FMCSA in July of next year. Given our expectations of a rising driver shortage, combined with a tailwind versus year-ago fuel prices and continued modest freight growth, the index should steadily increase into 2013.”
