A new study of the nation’s over-the-road trucking capacity concluded that while trucking freight is still tight, it’s not quite as bad as it was earlier in the year.
The Shippers Condition Index (SCI) — which is compiled by FTR, a freight transportation consulting group — measures all market influences that affect shippers. A reading above zero is favorable and a reading below zero is unfavorable and represents a “less-than-ideal environment for shippers”.
The SCI for April was -7.7. That represents “a mild pullback from a critical capacity possibility” that was evident in March, when the SCI was -8.7. But the the slight improvement does not represent significant progress on the truck capacity front, which remains very tight, according to FTR President Eric Starks.
“We are still near a tipping point,” Starks said in the report. “If the economy starts to accelerate as we move through the summer months, additional strain would be put on an already fragile capacity situation. Shippers could expect carriers to push rates higher as we move through the year. The biggest pressure will come from trucking companies who continue to struggle finding qualified drivers to move freight.”
The harsh winter weather may have contributed to the lower SCI earlier this year, according to Starks.
“The winter created a huge capacity crunch as shippers were scrambling to find equipment,” he said. “That is over now, but the driver shortage situation remains an issue and is a major problem that carriers really cannot stress enough. We are kind of at an odd spot right now because it really won’t take much of an economic pick up to push us back to that critical spot again where we were last winter. If we start seeing the economy heating up at all, it could create some problems as things are already on the edge.”