FTR Transportation Intelligence's Shippers Conditions Index for March plummeted to -18.9, reflecting, as expected, exceptionally harsh market conditions driven primarily by the sharp rise in fuel costs. Capacity utilization and freight rates also were negative factors as they have been all year. The February index reading of -11.9 had indicated the toughest market for shippers in nearly four years. The SCI outlook is negative but less than in March.  

Avery Vise, FTR’s Vice President of Trucking, commented, “Only once in the SCI data, which dates to 2000, did the index suggest more unfavorable overall conditions for shippers than in March. Exactly four years earlier, the fuel component was not quite as negative, but freight rates and utilization were notably more unfavorable. However, in March 2022, rates and utilization were beginning to move in a favorable direction while today those factors are rising challenges. We expect market conditions to stabilize over the next quarter or so, but they don’t look favorable for shippers over the two-year forecast horizon.”

This index represents four major conditions in the U.S. full-load freight market. These metrics are combined into a single index that tracks the market conditions that influence a shipper's freight transportation environment.