Freight companies are dialing back expectations that demand will recover strongly in the second half of the year amid growing economic uncertainty and signs retailers are growing more guarded about placing big orders in 2023.
Truck tonnage in February increased 2.3% compared with the same month in 2022, according to American Trucking Associations’ For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index, marking the 18th straight year-over-year gain and the largest since October.
For January, the most recent month for which data is available, the TCI came in at -1.71, a significant improvement over December’s -6.1 and November’s -7.94.
The Port of Los Angeles reported that February volume—at 487,846 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units)—were down 43% compared to February 2022.
Dean Croke knows a bit about trucking. He logged more than 2 million miles as a long-haul trucker, mostly driving massive road trains loaded with cattle across the unforgiving roads of Australia. He still holds a U.S. CDL.
Ryder boss Sanchez said his team is hearing more customers say that ‘there’s a lot to happen between here and January.’ J.B. Hunt's Simpson said she's not downbeat about rest of the year but has 'become slightly less optimistic than our customers.'
Following recommendations from the board of the Unified Carrier Registration program, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is proposing further reduction in the annual UCR fees collected from motor carriers.
Commerce reported that February retail sales—at $697.9 billion—were off 0.4% compared to January and up 5.4% annually.
Truckload freight volumes slipped in February and load-to-truck ratios, which indicate demand for truckload services on the spot market, hit their lowest points since May 2020, said DAT Freight & Analytics, operators of the industry’s largest online freight marketplace and DAT iQ data analytics service.
Freight volumes and spot rates slipped in February while load-to-truck ratios, which indicate demand for truckload services on the spot market, hit their lowest points since May 2020, according to trucking research firm and load board operator DAT Freight & Analytics.