The latest release of ACT Research’s For-Hire Trucking Index, with March data, showed a Driver Availability Index that has tightened to another new low point in the past three years, the fourth in a row.

The ACT For-Hire Trucking Index is a monthly survey of for-hire trucking service providers. ACT Research converts responses into diffusion indexes, where the neutral or flat activity level is 50.

“The Driver Availability Index tightened to a new low in March, to 16.7 from 23.6 in February,” said Tim Denoyer, ACT’s vice president and senior analyst. “As volumes recovered from weather-related softness in February and capacity remained very tight, the supply-demand balance rose to 68.2 in March, from 60.1 in February.

“In addition to the raft of constraints on driver capacity, from demographics to unemployment benefits to the FMCSA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse, constrained Class 8 production and tight vehicle inventories also are likely to limit the pace of recovery this year.”

The ACT Freight Forecast provides forecasts for the direction of truck volumes and contract rates quarterly through 2020 with three years of annual forecasts for the truckload, less-than-truckload and intermodal segments of the transportation industry. For the truckload spot market, the report provides forecasts for the next twelve months. In 2019, the average accuracy of the report’s truckload spot rate forecasts was 98%. The ACT Research Freight Forecast uses equipment capacity modeling and the firm’s economics expertise to provide unprecedented visibility for the future of freight rates, helping businesses in transportation and logistics management plan for the future with confidence.

More information can be found at actresearch.net.