Times have been uncertain recently, and nobody's felt safe knowing where the industry as a whole is going.
We've seen booms in some sectors, and busts in others - but what's the forecast for the future?
Well, the folks over at Freightwaves are telling us the news is looking good. I recommend that in order to get a deeper understanding of their data collection as well as further insight into their numbers and research, you read their full article here.
However, for the purposes of the blog feature, I'll break down the article's key takeaways here.
We can't rely on historical data
With the uncertainty brought by the virus, it's hard to use historical data and modeling to predict the flow of the market.
However, by observing the recent bottoming out of rates in the contract market, we can extrapolate that the unnatural surge in consumer goods and produce demands is bottoming out. This seems to indicate that things are slowly moving back to normality.
The next few weeks will see a return in freight demand
Even though things won't go fully back to normal, trucking freight markets will start recovering. This is because the parts of the economy that will continue to be shut down generate little freight demand.
Despite restaurants and other public venues being closed, the food demand will not deminish, and will be compensated for by grocery store orders or takeout options.
Other key points
- Manufacturers and retailers are coming back, which will impact freight demand positively
- The $2 trillion fiscal stimulus from the government and $4 trillion from federal reserve will stimulate the economy
- Similar amounts of money are being pumped into the global economy
- Consumers are more likely to spend more money on goods as opposed to services, which is healthy for the freight market
Conclusion
I'm happy to hear that things are slowly stabilizing, and that trucking professionals and drivers all across the country can expect some security in the upcoming months.
This virus has the potential to be a disruptor that continues bankrupting businesses and leaving people unemployed, but it's good to know that measures are being put in place and that the economy is slowly returning to its usual state.
I sympathize with anyone that has lost work, people, or business due to this virus and hope we can make a swift return to normality soon. Stay healthy and safe out there!
As always, if you have any specific questions that you would like answered, or would like a free consultation to help you recruit truck drivers more efficiently, please reach out to sales@youcruit.com with your query, and we'll do our best to help you.