How does FTR come up with a Truckload rates index?
Understanding the rate pressures on a national level requires
FTR Truck Rate Data: Methodology and Sources
FTR's truck rate data comes from numerous sources including leading load boards, associations, private data, and government indices.
The data is collected and normalized to create comparable data sets, ensuring all source data remains confidential. It is then adjusted to reflect revenue per loaded mile, excluding fuel surcharges, and indexed to 2008 Q1 as the base level.
The data is then classified as either spot or contract depending on the source — for example, load board data is assigned to spot rate metrics and association data is assigned to contract rate metrics. While this classification method is not exhaustive, it provides the clear distinctions necessary for consistent data aggregation.
Spot rates reflect short-term, transactional pricing negotiated at the time of shipment. Contract rates reflect longer-term pricing agreements between shippers and carriers.
FTR's forecast leverages changes in its proprietary Active Truck Utilization (ATU) metric to measure shifts in potential pricing power. ATU tracks the share of available truck capacity that is actively engaged, providing a real-time indicator of supply-demand balance. Near-term adjustments are made by FTR's market experts to account for current pricing dynamics and expected market behaviors.