Truck freight growth has outpaced the overall economy, but the realities of a late-recovery economic cycle may soon slow things down, FTR’s Noel Perry said at FTR’s annual Indianapolis-held transportation conference.
As reported by CCJ magazine, Perry and other economic forecasters at the conference said there are no direct indicators of a looming recession, but the U.S. economy is already on “borrowed time” having now been in an expansion, albeit a slow one, for over six years.
There’s only a 10 percent chance that the U.S. economy won’t hit a recession before 2020, added Perry.
“[The recovery] has been spectacular for freight so far,” Perry said. “But FTR is beginning to push its freight forecast down.”
Perry did say carriers should proceed with “business as usual,” but cautioned the entire industry to prepare for a potential economic downturn, especially looking three to five years out. “The chance of risk becomes significant the farther we are into the recovery cycle,” he said.
