Price Trends: Trucking

The cyclical low point in inflation (or, in current environment, deflation) appears to have finally passed. U.S. Labor Department surveys report LTL transaction prices jumped 3.7% from January to February 2010. Of course, that one month didn’t wipe out five consecutive months of LTL price cuts, but any glimmer that recession-induced price concessions may be ending should concern shippers. From the July 2008 peak to the March 2009 trough, average trucking prices fell 8.6% while industry costs dropped 14.7%. Since hitting bottom, prices have inched up 1.5% as fuel-driven inflation has pushed aggregate industry costs up 8%. Our new trucking price forecast:  1.5% annual gain in 2010 and 2% in 2011.

Source: Elizabeth Baatz, Thinking Cap Solutions. E-mail: [email protected]