Freight rising faster than capacity: ACT Research

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COLUMBUS, IN – ACT Research’s For-Hire Trucking Index sees freight rising faster than capacity, increasing the gap to levels not observed since 2014.

According to ACT, the rebalancing of capacity in the second half of 2016 accelerated in early 2017.

“Hopefully, January’s readings represent a sustainable improvement in freight creation as rising commodity prices boost investment and lead to increased demand for machinery,” says Kenny Vieth, president and senior analyst at ACT Research. “Of course, as the move was such a strong deviation from the trend, some of January’s high-side surprise may be related to longer plant shutdowns in December as inventories continued to be rebalanced.”

In addition, volume and productivity indexes also improved, with the volume index climbing almost 23 points from December, to 67.7, and the productivity index jumping 14 points to 61.3 in January. 

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John G. Smith is Newcom Media's vice-president - editorial, and the editorial director of its trucking publications -- including Today's Trucking, trucknews.com, and Transport Routier. The award-winning journalist has covered the trucking industry since 1995.


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