COLUMBUS, Ind. — The latest release of ACT’s For-Hire Trucking Index showed a downtick in volume, pricing and productivity with the supply-demand balance continuing trend, loosening for the fourth consecutive month.
The Volume Index returned to negative territory, reaching 47.1 in February, while pricing fell to 48.9. Productivity dropped sharply to 43.0, and the supply-demand balance now sits at 42.7.
“While respondents noted weather impacted February results, the Pricing Index fell below neutral for the first time since July 2016 amidst soft demand and accelerating pricing. We see evidence here that the laws of supply and demand have not been repealed,” said Tim Denoyer, ACT Research’s vice president and senior analyst. “The supply-demand balance reading fell from 45.6 in January, and the decline was due to the lower freight Volume Index reading, partly offset by the sequentially lower Capacity Index. Both accelerating Class 8 tractor production and slowing freight growth are loosening the supply-demand balance as we near the 2019 contract rate season.”
The February fleet purchase intentions reading indicated an uptick in equipment demand, with 55.5 percent of respondents planning to buy trucks in the next three months, up from 53.6 percent, seasonally adjusted, in January.
ACT is a publisher of new and used commercial vehicle 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, as well as the banking and investment community in North America, Europe, and China.
For more information on ACT, please visit https://www.actresearch.net/.
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