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Numbers At A Glance – April 21, 2021
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Truck Driver Searches |
| WoW: Δ Up 17% |
|---|
| MoM: Δ Up 2% |
| YoY: Δ Up 77% |
Load Volume |
| WoW: Δ Up 5% Sets an all-time high record. |
|---|
Volume by Segment |
| WoW: Dry Van ∇ Down 2% |
|---|
| WoW: Refrigerated Δ Up 2% |
| WoW: Flatbed Δ Up 9% Sets an all-time high record for the 7th time in 8 weeks. |
Spot Rates |
| WoW: Δ Up 4¢ per mile Sets another all-time high record (5cpm higher than the previous record from June 2018). |
|---|
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[one_half_last]
Clicks On Truck Driver Postings |
| WoW: Δ Up 3% |
|---|
| MoM: ∇ Down 2% |
| YoY: ∇ Down 42% |
Truck Postings |
| WoW: ∇ Down 5% |
|---|
Truck Posting by Segment |
| WoW: Dry Van Δ Up 1% |
|---|
| WoW: Refrigerated ∇ Down 9% |
| WoW: Flatbed ∇ Down 7% |
Rates by Segment |
| WoW: Dry Van ∇ Down 4¢ per mile |
|---|
| WoW: Refrigerated ≡ Flat |
| WoW: Flatbed Δ Up 6¢ per mile |
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Download the PDF Version for the April 21, 2021 Weekly Report
Would you like to have your own copy of the trucking industry data? All of the information covered in this week’s report for April 21, 2021, is available for your convenience in PDF form.
Click the image to download your PDF.
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Weekly Report – April 21, 2021 Transcript
Welcome to a brand-new Weekly Report, for Randall-Reilly, I’m Joshua Miller.
THIS WEEK IN JOB BOARD SEARCHES AND CLICKS
We start things off on a positive note as the activity for both searches and clicks not only increased but rose to their highest levels in four weeks.
Truck driver searches were up 17% WoW, 2% MoM, and 77% YoY. Clicks on driver postings rose by 3% WoW, but fell by 2% MoM, and 42% YoY.
THIS WEEK IN FREIGHT
Load postings rose by 5% setting an all-time high, besting the previous record set back in week 8 of this year. Dry van postings decreased by 2% WoW, but overall, this segment has held pretty steady over the previous five weeks. Refrigerated postings rose by 2% falling right in line with what we’ve seen lately as refrigerated volume has remained largely unchanged over the past six weeks. And flatbed load volume spiked and rose by 9% WoW, which you guessed it – sets another record. This makes the seventh time in eight weeks a new flatbed volume record has been set.
Truck postings dipped by 5% WoW. Dry van did increase slightly by 1% but refrigerated and flatbed postings were both down WoW – 9% and 7% respectively. The ratio of loads to trucks did rebound, however, from last week’s decrease, and the ratio came in at the seventh highest level on record – only being surpassed by six of the previous eight weeks.
Spot rates rose 4¢ per mile and this too sets an all-time high. The rates are now 5¢ per mile above those we saw in June of 2018, which had previously been the high-water mark. And though overall rates are up to record levels, it is flatbed that is solely responsible for this week’s totals.
Flatbed rates up 6¢ per mile WoW, while refrigerated remained flat, and dry van dropped by 4¢ per mile WoW.
THAT BRINGS US TO OUR STORY OF THE WEEK
Long story short, according the FTR Trucking Conditions Index, things are looking up. The trucking condition index tracks changes in five trucking market conditions. Those being: freight volume, freight rates, fleet capacity, fuel price, and financing. These five factors are combined into a single index score used to represent the industry’s overall health, with a positive score representing good conditions and a negative one equating to bad conditions.
FTR’s Trucking Conditions Index hit its highest level in 16 months back in February. Quick note, we’re referring back to February’s numbers as they are finalized. March’s figures are not final just yet, but are expected to tick down ever so slightly, but the expectation is that April could spike to record levels.
With the demand being through the roof in both consumer and industrial sectors, coupled with lingering labor challenges keeping a lid on capacity, you would be hard pressed to find better market conditions for trucking companies.
FTR’S near-term outlook is quite strong, and they predict good conditions to remain all the way through 2022, with no noticeable easing until this Fall. Although when that easing does eventually occur, they do not anticipate conditions stabilizing quite as quickly as they did in late 2018 into 2019.
The major issue here is the supply chain constraints. Many truck OEMs are struggling to keep up with demand, and these issues are not likely to go away in the coming months as there is currently a global shortage of semiconductors and supply limitations for various other components.
And that does it for this week’s report. Don’t forget if you’d like to take a closer look at all the numbers we covered, you can download a PDF form of this week’s report available on our blog and there’s also a link down in the description if you happen to be watching on YouTube. Join us next Wednesday as we update the numbers, cover another story of the week, and take a look back to help you move forward. Until then, have a great week everybody.
