An improving u.s. economy, substantial surge in manufactured and retail goods, and a sharp rebound in many end markets are expected to fuel the future growth of the Trucking industry. Declining oil prices over last couple of months is a major boon for many truckers.

Fuel cost accounts for a considerable portion of expenses of trucking companies. With a declining trucking cost, business enterprises are increasingly opting for trucks for product shipment instead of railways and other means of transportations. 

Double-Edged Weapon 

The U.S. trucking industry is currently poised to benefit from two ways. Lower oil prices will reduce their operating expenditure thereby boosting the bottom-line. On the other hand, capacity constraint in the form of driver shortage and new government regulation will drive top-line growth. 

The U.S. trucking industry has been witnessing a gradual improvement in 2014. As the U.S. economy continues to grow, demand for carriage also becomes robust and the momentum is expected to sustain in the long-run. Growing demand for carriage coupled with severe shortages of drivers will result into higher freight rates and increased asset utilization rates in near future. 

Momentum to Continue

Trucks in the U.S. are responsible for the majority of freight movement over land, and form a vital part of the manufacturing, transportation and warehousing industries. Meanwhile, American Trucking Associations (ATA), the main industry trade group, declared that its advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 0.5% in Oct 2014, following a decline of 0.8% in September. In October, the index equalled 132.1 (2000=100).

The SA index in October was up 4.5% year over year. Year-to-date, tonnage is up 3.2% compared with the same period of the prior year. The not seasonally adjusted index, which represents the change in tonnage actually hauled by trucks before any seasonal adjustment, equalled 140.4 in Oct 2014, up 4.3% sequentially.