(April 18 2012) — FTR Associates’ Shippers Conditions Index (SCI) continues to point towards a strengthening economy and capacity tightness for over-the-road shippers.
Larry Gross, senior consultant for FTR, said February was unusually strong – likely due to warmer winter weather — with demand for trucking services rising over 4 percent year-over-year. “This sets the table for a relatively tight capacity situation going forward as demand ramps up seasonally in the coming months,” he says.
Gross said he expects pricing power to stay on the side of carriers for the balance of 2012.
The SCI should remain stable over the next year, until sinking deeper into negative territory when the new hours-of-service rules are implemented sometime in 2013, FTR predicts.
