The pool of truck drivers in the U.S. labor market hit a new low in March, further tightening transportation market tensions as the economy continues its swift recovery from pandemic restrictions, according to a report from the industry analysis firm ACT Research.
Columbus, Indiana-based ACT’s latest For-Hire Trucking Index showed a Driver Availability Index that tightened to another new low point in the past three years, the fourth in a row, the firm said Thursday.
ACT creates the index by conducting a monthly survey of for-hire trucking service providers and converting responses into diffusion indexes, where the neutral or flat activity level is 50. By that measure, the firm’s Driver Availability Index tightened to a new low in March, dropping to 16.7 from its February low of 23.6.
“As volumes recovered from weather-related softness in February and capacity remained very tight, the Supply-Demand Balance rose to 68.2 in March, from 60.1 in February,” Tim Denoyer, ACT Research’s vice president and senior analyst said in a release.
“In addition to the raft of constraints on driver capacity, from demographics to unemployment benefits to the FMCSA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse, constrained Class 8 production and tight vehicle inventories are also likely to limit the pace of recovery this year.”
