Anthony Smith, FreightWaves’ Lead Economist, joins Freight Forecasting host Michael Vincent to explain and illustrate the importance of economic factors and how they can have a great deal of influence on the freight markets and the various modes of freight movement. Anthony and Michael discuss Industrial Production and ISM Diffusion Indices. They also talk about how the FreightWaves SONAR Reefer Tender Rejection Index has a relationship to food, beverage and tobacco production data. Anthony also describes how non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft new orders have a direct relationship and correlation to truckload demand in the U.S.
Watch the episode below:
The production side of the economy (manufacturing, agriculture, construction and other sectors) have a much bigger impact on transportation than the service side of the economy (even though the service side is much larger). So when the production side of the economy is performing well, transportation modes (trucking, rail, air freight and ocean shipping) are usually doing well also. But when production is down (whether in one sector on the production side or more), then transportation companies take a hit.
Using SONAR’s data and analysis relating to the economy will not stop production from going down, but it can help SONAR subscribers understand what is happening sooner and better than their competitors.
Know more, faster – and find just what you need with SONAR!
