Most Carriers Predict Volume, Rate Increases in 2014, TCP Says

Most trucking companies are expecting that their volumes will increase and they will be able to raise their rates in 2014, Transport Capital Partners said.

“The steady growth of the economy is producing increasingly positive expectations from carriers," TCP said in a Dec. 12 report based on a survey it conducted. "Since the fourth quarter of 2012, positive volume expectations have risen to 61% from 29%.”

That indicator of mounting optimism has been in place for four consecutive quarters. A similar percentage of respondents expects rates to rise as well. That percentage also has risen in four consecutive surveys.

“Despite this optimism, rate and volume growth has yet to fully materialize — aside from the construction, petroleum and seasonal freight sectors,” the Nashville, Tenn.-based company stated.

TCP illustrated the fact that optimism has outpaced pricing reality by noting that a majority of fleets have been predicting higher rates for four years, though prices didn’t begin to rise until 2013.

Two thirds of TCP respondents said, when asked about current rates, that they have they have remained the same as the previous quarter. Over the past several quarters, the percentage of fleets reporting increases has been growing slowly, though fewer than one in three of the carriers surveyed has been able to achieve increases, TCP said.