The FTR Trucking Conditions Index (TCI) for October 2009 increased for the third consecutive month to –16.4, the highest reading since November 2008. This index, a combination of five truck industry statistics in one metric, remains significantly below a neutral reading of zero.
Eric Starks, president of FTR, said, “The continued negative TCI reading is a clear sign that the transportation industry is still struggling from the steep downturn seen late last year and into 2009. Real acceleration in the trucking fundamentals that we track for this index will likely wait for a substantial recovery in volumes and capacity utilization which we don’t expect to occur for at least another year.”
The TCI is reported in The Trucker’s Dashboard, a monthly publication of FTR that lets freight companies see freight trends, industry capacity, trucking costs, driver supply, and other factors affecting operations. FTR uses data and proprietary calculations to forecast upcoming demand for freight services.
To subscribe to The Trucker’s Dashboard, call 888-988-1699 ext 1 or e-mail [email protected].