Bloomington, Ind. — FTR’s Shippers Conditions Index improved in January to +0.6 from December’s reading of -1.8.
“Broadly speaking, the freight market is still fairly comfortable for shippers despite softening over the past few months,” said Avery Vise, FTR’s vice president of trucking. “However, conditions vary depending on freight profiles. For example, in the spot market for truck freight, 2025 has been rather sluggish for dry van and refrigerated equipment but has been increasingly hot for flatbed.”
Freight dynamics – utilization, rates and volume – were slightly favorable for shippers in January, but higher fuel costs offset almost all those benefits. The market outlook for shippers technically is negative after March through the forecast horizon, but the SCI is mostly very close to neutral over that period.
“In rail, carload volumes have been only marginally stronger than comparable 2024 weeks, but intermodal is still running strong year over year,” Vise said. “Tariffs and anticipation of tariffs likely are big components of these distortions, and it will be advantageous for the whole supply chain to have clarity and certainty soon.”
Dana Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has been featured in multiple newspapers, books and magazines across the globe. She is currently based in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.
