The FTR Experts were posed with the question, "How do you see the supply chain issues and commodity prices impacting the recovery?"
This Q&A response from the FTR experts came from the January 2021 State of Freight webinar, Preparing for 2021.
- Supply chain issues are putting a throttle on the recovery.
- Strategic businesses that can change suppliers, diversify, reshore, or nearshore may use this situation to be stronger in the long term.
FTR Expert Response: The current supply chain issues have been sustained long enough to have risen to the level of being expected in the economy. Even though they are expected, they will still pose a limitation or throttle on recovery. Strategic businesses that can overcome the supply chain issues by changing suppliers, diversifying, reshoring, or nearshoring may use this situation as cover to iron out existing supply chain issues and be stronger in the long term. Commodity prices, outside of energy, are not posed to have a large impact on recovery. The Federal Reserve Bank is forecasting limited inflation and plans no new interest rate hikes in the near future.
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.
