ACT Research For-Hire Trucking Index: Capacity Recovering
The latest release of ACT’s For-Hire Trucking Index, with November data, showed across-the-board increases.
The ACT For-Hire Trucking Index is a monthly survey of for-hire trucking service providers. ACT Research converts responses into diffusion indexes, where the neutral or flat activity level is 50. Please contact us at trucks@actresearch.net if you are a for-hire executive interested in participating. In return, participants receive a detailed monthly analysis of the survey data, including Volumes, Freight Rates, Driver Availability, Capacity, Productivity and Purchasing Intentions, plus a complimentary copy of ACT’s Transportation Digest report.
Tim Denoyer, Vice President and Senior Analyst at ACT Research, commented, “Led by better driver availability, the Capacity Index increased 6.1 points in November, to 54.6 (SA), the best result since May 2019 in a sharp deviation from the trend of the past two years. Exemptions from vaccine mandates for most truck driving jobs may aid hiring at the margin, though dock capacity will likely be strained.”
He added, “With the tempo of the holiday freight drumbeat increasing, ACT’s For-Hire Pricing Index rose 1.1 points in November. While capacity remains tight and rates continue to rise, the increase in driver availability indicates gradual rebalancing in the market has begun.”
Regarding the supply-demand balance, Denoyer noted, “November’s Supply-Demand Balance ticked up, as volumes increased more than capacity. While down from this year’s peak of 69.2 in April, the current reading still reflects a fairly tight supply-demand environment. Significant unmet demand remains in equipment markets, and the near-term outlook for freight volume remains positive.”
The ACT Freight Forecast provides forecasts for spot truckload rates by trailer type for four to six quarters and truck volumes and contract rates for three years for the truckload, less-than-truckload and intermodal segments of the transportation industry. In 2019, the average accuracy of the report’s truckload spot rate forecasts was 98%. The ACT Research Freight Forecast uses equipment capacity modeling and the firm’s economics expertise to provide unprecedented visibility for the future of freight rates, helping businesses in transportation and logistics management plan for the future with confidence.
ACT Research is recognized as the leading publisher of commercial vehicle truck, trailer, and bus industry data, market analysis and forecasts for the North America and China markets. ACT’s analytical services are used by all major North American truck and trailer manufacturers and their suppliers, as well as banking and investment companies. ACT Research is a contributor to the Blue Chip Economic Indicators and a member of the Wall Street Journal Economic Forecast Panel. ACT Research executives have received peer recognition, including election to the Board of Directors of the National Association for Business Economics, appointment as Consulting Economist to the National Private Truck Council, and the Lawrence R. Klein Award for Blue Chip Economic Indicators’ Most Accurate Economic Forecast over a four-year period. ACT Research senior staff members have earned accolades including Chicago Federal Reserve Automotive Outlook Symposium Best Overall Forecast, Wall Street Journal Top Economic Outlook, and USA Today Top 10 Economic Forecasters. More information can be found at www.actresearch.net.
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For more information about ACT’s Freight Forecast, U.S. Rate and Volume OUTLOOK, please click here.
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