'Quietest in 20 years': Truckers feel chill of slowing US economy

[bostonangler]

The shipping industry, which serves as the arterial system for the economy, is feeling the chill of a slowdown.

As U.S. growth decelerates, an overwhelming majority of trucking companies tracked by Merrill Lynch expect shipping rates to either fall or stay flat, the firm said on Friday, as its Truckload Diffusion Indicator tumbled to its weakest levels since October 2016.

The index, a barometer of the freight-hauling industry, is now down 29% year over year, and shippers’ outlooks are broadly negative to neutral.

One Southeast shipper surveyed by Merrill noted that current conditions in Florida were “the quietest he has seen it in his 20 years in Florida through May and June.”

The bank also reported that asset based companies in the region “are lowering prices to compete with the spot market, and expects this situation to level out in the next month or so.”

Merrill’s anecdotal data shone a light on a critical sector of the U.S. economy, where ominous signs suggest a slowdown may metastasize into something deeper — especially with the U.S. and China engaged in a trade war that shows no signs of an immediate resolution.

The sluggish conditions cited by Merrill Lynch in its report appear to be playing out around the country. The Cass Freight Index, watched by some market analysts as a bellwether of the broader shipping industry, fell for the fifth straight month in May.

Meanwhile, with shipments tumbling 6% from the year prior, Cass Freight sees conditions moving from “‘warning of a potential slowdown’ to ‘signaling an economic contraction.’”

Cass Freight warned that “weakness in spot market pricing for many transportation services, especially trucking, is consistent with the negative Cass Shipments Index and ... strengthens our concerns about the economy and the risk of ongoing trade policy disputes.”

In March, shipping and logistics giant FedEx lowered its outlook for the year, citing “weaker global trade trends” — and analysts are holding their breath when the company reports quarterly earnings next week

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/truck-shippers-feel-chill-of-slowing-us-economy-merrill-lynch-144626940.html

 

 

B/A

[MyLadiesDaddy]

This is what I mean when I suggest you seek elsewhere to get your news. 

As a trucker I can assure you that the story is a lie. I had to take a 4-day vacation over the 4th of July just so I could get some rest. I'm working 14-15 hour days. And I know from all the other truckers I see on the road the situation with them is the same. But the author of this story, a blatant liar, knows that most of the readers here don't know any Truckers. Thus they are more inclined to believe what they read.

[Muleslayer]

take a spin down I-44.

every third vehicle is  an 18 wheeler!

[Shabibilicious]

I must concur....there are more OTR truckers wanted ads in the local paper than any other available  jobs.  People are simply shopping more online these days and those purchases are going to deliver themselves.

 

GO RV, then BV 

[Indraman]

To the best of my understanding, the "Truckload Diffusion Indicator" is to the Shipping Industry as the "Consumer Price Index" is to the US Consumer Market. It is basically anecdotal polling of key sources within the Shipping Industry. Pretty interesting that they are saying that the "Truckload Diffusion Indicator" has gone down for the fifth straight month in a row. This could be a case of the Anti-Trump Propaganda having an affect on personal perspectives, or the start of something ominous. I would align with the first option.

 

Indy