ACT Research For-Hire Trucking Index: Weak Finish to Q2
The latest release of ACT’s For-Hire Trucking Index, June data, showed nearly across-the-board declines, with capacity again the lone exception. The Volume Index dropped further into negative territory, falling to 43.2 (SA) in June, from 46.7 in May. The June Pricing Index, at 43.8 (SA), recovered a good bit of last month’s sharp decline, up from 38.8 in May on a seasonally adjusted basis, the lowest in survey history.
Tim Denoyer, ACT Research’s Vice President and Senior Analyst commented, “Volumes and utilization have been down seven of eight months, and the supply-demand balance has been loosening for eight straight months. In line with several Q2 earnings warnings from truckload carriers this week, this is further confirmation of a weak freight environment. May’s Pricing Index looked a little anomalously bad, so it was good to see that pick back up, though still not a great level in June.”
Regarding the Volume Index, Denoyer said, “Volumes reached a new cycle low in June, likely due in part to rapid growth of private fleets, the slowdown in the industrial sector and some inventory drawdown. This coincides with most other freight metrics.” He added, “The supply-demand balance reading loosened to 41.4, from 42.1 in May. The past eight consecutive readings have shown a deterioration in the supply-demand balance, with June the largest yet.”
ACT is the leading publisher of new and used commercial vehicle (CV) industry data, market analysis and forecasting services for the North American market, as well as the U.S. tractor-trailer market and the China CV market. ACT’s CV services are used by all major North American truck and trailer manufacturers and their suppliers, major trucking and logistics firms, as well as the banking and investment community in North America, Europe, and China. For more information on ACT, please visit http://www.actresearch.net.
The ACT Freight Forecast provides quarterly forecasts for the direction of volumes and contract rates through 2020 and annual forecasts through 2021 for the truckload, less-than-truckload and intermodal segments of the transportation industry. For the truckload spot market, the report provides forecasts for the next twelve months. For more information about ACT’s Freight Forecast, U.S. Rate and Volume OUTLOOK, please click here.
ACT’s 61st seminar is scheduled for August 12–14, 2019, and will feature a dealer panel, as well as discussions on near-term demand of North American commercial vehicle markets and the impacts of tomorrow’s technical challenges. A global forecasting workshop is also being planned in conjunction with this semi-annual event. Click here for seminar information.
