The FTR Experts were posed with the question, "With supply chains shifting to the current buying and service patterns, will a shift back to more services create another March/April like disruption event?"
This Q&A response from the FTR experts came from the January 2021 State of Freight webinar, Preparing for 2021.
- Consumer shift to more services could marginally slow freight growth.
- The only way we see another big disruption is with widespread mandated business closures.
FTR Expert Response: We don’t see any economic shifts like that resulting in a repeat of the March/April contraction. A shift to more services could marginally slow freight growth, but not come close to reversing it. We would have to see widespread mandates of business closures in order to see that type of contraction again. With the change in presidential administration, this dynamic is possible if the pandemic were to escalate further. However, we don’t have any insights into what specific set of conditions might trigger that.
Read additional Preparing for 2021 Q&A on the FTR Blog.
If you need to manage your transportation spend, or set budgets for rates, only FTR provides history and forecast for truckload rates for spot and contract, coupled with a freight demand outlook that helps you plan for capacity, letting you decide when it makes sense to go short on the spot market, or lock in contracts to secure capacity.
