FTR | State of Freight

In this week’s episode of FTR’s Trucking Market Update podcast, we discuss a record-setting week in the spot market for truck freight and in pricing for trucking services in April and briefly recap some notable developments in Washington. Plus, we recap the week in diesel and crude prices and address several key economic indicators, including manufacturing output, retail sales, consumer inflation,...

In this episode of FTR’s Rail Market Update , host Joseph Towers covers: Responses to the UP-NS merger application Dick Kloster’s road to the STB Weekly rail traffic  The Rail Market Update is hosted by FTR’s Senior Analyst, Rail, Joseph Towers.  As this information is presented, you are welcome to follow along and look at the graphs and indicators yourself by downloading the PDF of the presentati...

In this week’s episode of FTR’s Trucking Market Update podcast, we review a notable shift in the trucking industry’s payroll employment in April. We also recap the latest data on diesel prices and the spot market for truck freight and discuss various indicators related to employment, housing and non-residential construction.  The Trucking Market Update is hosted by FTR’s Vice President of Trucking...

In this week’s episode of FTR’s Trucking Market Update podcast, we recap the week for diesel prices and the spot market for truck freight and review some key indicators of the industrial, consumer, housing, and international trade sectors. Plus, we discuss changes in the for-hire carrier population in April, the number of Class 8 truck orders during the month, and Gross Domestic Product for the fi...

In this episode of FTR’s Rail Market Update , host Joseph Towers covers:  Updated Section 232 tariffs Weekly rail traffic Updated UP-NS merger application  The Rail Market Update is hosted by FTR’s Senior Analyst, Rail, Joseph Towers.  As this information is presented, you are welcome to follow along and look at the graphs and indicators yourself by downloading the PDF of the presentation. Downloa...

In this week’s episode of FTR’s Trucking Market Update podcast, we review a record-setting week in the spot market for truck freight and recap the week in diesel prices and petroleum as usual. Plus, we look at retail sales for March and at inventories for February.  The Trucking Market Update is hosted by FTR’s Vice President of Trucking, Avery Vise. As this information is presented, you are welco...

In this week’s episode of FTR’s Trucking Market Update podcast, we discuss a couple of notable changes in Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulatory and enforcement policy, one of which could make a difference in the driver population. We also address data from the industrial sector and recap the latest changes in diesel and crude prices and in the spot market for truck freight. The Tr...

In this week’s episode of FTR’s Trucking Market Update podcast, we review the latest data on diesel prices and the spot market for truck freight. Plus, we dig into several notable economic indicators for the consumer, industrial, and housing sectors.  The Trucking Market Update is hosted by FTR’s Vice President of Trucking, Avery Vise. As this information is presented, you are welcome to follow al...

In this week’s episode of FTR’s Trucking Market Update podcast, we review the continued surge in both diesel prices and spot rates and discuss some key metrics related to capacity, including payroll employment in trucking and orders for Class 8 trucks. We also address several key economic indicators related to employment, manufacturing, consumption, and trade.  The Trucking Market Update is hosted...

In this week’s episode of FTR’s Trucking Market Update podcast, we recap the week in diesel and crude prices and in the spot market for truck freight. We also review the latest data on new applications for trucking authority and discuss nonresidential construction in January. The Trucking Market Update is hosted by FTR’s Vice President of Trucking, Avery Vise. As this information is presented, you...

In this week’s episode of FTR’s Trucking Market Update podcast, we revisit diesel and crude prices and related changes in the spot market for truck freight. We also address sales of new homes, pricing at the producer level, inventories and sales in the wholesale sector, and changes in nonresidential construction. Plus, we review legislation approved last week by the House Transportation & Infr...

In this episode of FTR’s Rail Market Update , host Joseph Towers covers: The impact of Iran on rail traffic Container activity at the Port of Los Angeles Weekly traffic update   The Rail Market Update is hosted by FTR’s Senior Analyst, Rail, Joseph Towers.  As this information is presented, you are welcome to follow along and look at the graphs and indicators yourself by downloading the PDF of the...

In this week’s episode of FTR’s Trucking Market Update podcast, we revisit diesel prices after the previous week’s record surge, and we consider what that increase meant for the spot market for truck freight. We also review some key indicators of the industrial, consumer, and housing sectors. The Trucking Market Update is hosted by FTR’s Vice President of Trucking, Avery Vise. As this information...

In this week’s episode of FTR’s Trucking Market Update podcast, we discuss the largest one-week spike in diesel prices in history and address the latest data on payroll employment, retail sales, and a few other metrics, along with the latest week in the spot market for truck freight.  The Trucking Market Update is hosted by FTR’s Vice President of Trucking, Avery Vise. As this information is prese...

In this episode of FTR’s Rail Market Update , host Joseph Towers covers: The Supreme Courts decision and implications to rail Weekly rail traffic   The Rail Market Update is hosted by FTR’s Senior Analyst, Rail, Joseph Towers.  As this information is presented, you are welcome to follow along and look at the graphs and indicators yourself by downloading the PDF of the presentation. Download the PD...

In this week’s episode of FTR’s Trucking Market Update podcast, we review changes in the for-hire carrier population during February and consider what’s going on with diesel prices and the spot market for truck freight. We also review pricing in January for freight transportation services and for truck equipment, namely trailers. The Trucking Market Update is hosted by FTR’s Vice President of Truc...

In this week’s episode of FTR’s Trucking Market Update podcast, we discuss revenues for the trucking industry in the fourth quarter of last year and for all of 2025. We also review economic growth in the fourth quarter and examine key economic indicators related to the industrial, consumer, housing, and trade sectors. Plus, we recap the week in diesel prices and the spot market for truck freight a...

In this episode of FTR’s Rail Market Update , host Joseph Towers covers: UP-NS merger update  Port of Los Angeles container data  Weekly rail traffic  The Rail Market Update is hosted by FTR’s Senior Analyst, Rail, Joseph Towers.  As this information is presented, you are welcome to follow along and look at the graphs and indicators yourself by downloading the PDF of the presentation. Download the...

In this week’s episode of FTR’s Trucking Market Update podcast, we dig into the latest payroll employment data on trucking, including substantial data revisions that change our view of capacity in the market. We also discuss a final rule on non-domiciled CDLs and review economic indicators related to consumer spending, inflation, and business formation, and we recap the week in spot rates for truc...

In this week’s episode of FTR’s Trucking Market Update podcast, we review some developments related to the English language proficiency requirement and discuss several other topics specific to the trucking industry, including overall market conditions, equipment demand, and data from the drug and alcohol clearinghouse. Plus, we discuss a key indicator of the manufacturing sector recap the week in...