One of the more challenging questions industry economists are grappling with is the degree to which consumer spending shifts away from physical goods (that trucks transport) to services in coming months.
Over the past 12 months, we’ve seen consumers spend more on outdoor activities including exercise and sporting equipment, snowmobiles, and furniture to name just a few.
Often we look at building permit applications and new home starts as indicators of flatbed demand. Sales of new homes are another measure of demand for products, including building material and lumber.
February’s new residential construction numbers produced by the U.S. Census Bureau reported what many had expected. There was a drop in both building permits and new home starts, which will affect flatbed demand.
The Port of Baltimore is the number one Roll-on/Roll-off (RoRo) port in the United States and handles the majority of the East Coast’s share of RoRo cargo annually.
According to the Coalition of American Metal Manufacturers and Users, which represents more than 30,000 companies in the manufacturing sector, unfilled orders for steel in the last quarter were at the highest level in five years, while inventories were near a 3.5-year low based on data from the Census Bureau.
The Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment Index® (HPSI), which is a good indicator of demand for flatbed carriers, increased modestly in January from December.
Flatbed load and equipment posts on the DAT network each increased 2% last week, leaving the national average flatbed load-to-truck ratio virtually unchanged at 52.8.
There’s a Groundhog Day theme to the national average flatbed spot rate, which remains largely unchanged for the last 3 months, ending last week where it started at $2.19/mile excluding fuel.
For flatbed carriers looking to gauge future demand in the building and construction industry, the Home Builders Housing Market Index (HMI) is based on a monthly survey of the National Association of Home Builders members, designed to take the pulse of the single-family housing market.
Last week’s U.S. industrial production report from The Federal Reserve for December increased by 1.6% month over month, as the economy showed glimpses of improving.
