FTR’s Shipping Conditions Index highlights impact of rates on shippers

After showing some modest signs of rebounding, the most recent edition of the Shippers Conditions Index (SCI), which was recently issued by freight transportation consultancy FTR, remained in similar territory.  

FTR describes the SCI as an indicator that sums up all market influences that affect the transport environment for shippers, with a reading above zero being favorable and a reading below being unfavorable and a “less-than-ideal environment for shippers.”

For May, the most recent month for which data is available, the SCI reading was -11.3, a slight improvement over April’s -11.9, which was preceded by March’s record-low reading of -17.8. 

Even with the slight sequential improvement, FTR said that the impact of freight rates on shippers’ conditions represented the most negative in the SCI’s history. And it added that only a strong improvement in trucking capacity utilization during the month helped offset what it called a grueling rate environment. What’s more, FTR said that fuel costs also swung from a small positive in April to a small negative in May, noting that the market has not changed for shippers, and remains extremely challenging. 

“It remains a period of tough sledding for shippers as utilization and rates will remain difficult factors to offset in the near term,” said Todd Tranausky, vice president of rail and intermodal at FTR, in a statement. “The fall peak season will add increasing pressure to supply chains and could create additional negative pressure in the index over that period.”