With March and April ocean imports up, retail sales and
consumer confidence still positive, what caused the 1.1% decline in the
trucking index? Could this decline be due to a shift to rail intermodal? Perhaps.
For April, US rail intermodal increased 2.0% from March 2012. However, when asked about a possible shift
towards intermodal, ATA stated that the decline would more than likely be
attributed to disruptions within the trucking industry itself rather than a
modal shift.
Perhaps the decline is attributed to another shift. In a
recent Journal of Commerce article, “TransCoreDAT Spot Market Index Jumps 17%”, the spot market for truckload freight
jumped 17% year-over-year in April and 3.5% from March. According to TransCore,
this is a sign that shippers are turning to the spot market to find trucks as
demand rises and capacity at the motor carriers they use under contract remain
tight.
Could the ATA’s trucking index represent more of the large
scale providers that have contractional relationships with shippers versus the
smaller truck providers that are not members of ATA? It’s quite possible based
on the differences between the two indices.
The outlook for the trucking industry will prove to be quite
interesting to witness. The outlook may be more promising than what the ATA
expects - moderate growth of 3% to 3.9% for the year. It just depends on how
the US economy holds up against global pressures such as the European economic
crisis and China’s economic slowdown.
