ACT Research released the latest installment of the ACT Freight Forecast, U.S. Rate and Volume OUTLOOK report.

Tim Denoyer, ACT Research’s Vice President and Senior Analyst, said, “With visibility on a strong freight cycle still unusually good, this month’s report analyzes how an infrastructure package would impact the freight markets in the coming years. We also incorporate the pent-up demand that is building amid parts shortages into our forecasts.”

Denoyer added, “We also discuss long-term implications from the 200,000-ton metaphor for the overreach of globalization that recently blocked the Suez Canal.”

He concluded, “Supply chain disruptions have slowed the pace of recovery in US Class 8 tractor retail sales; backlogs are very long and orders remain strong, but the industry’s ability to ramp vehicle manufacturing will be challenged into 2H’21. Ongoing shipping delays and disruptions will continue to be a major challenge in this supply-constrained freight recovery.”

The monthly 56-page ACT Freight Forecast report provides three-year forecasts for volumes and contract rates for the truckload, less-than-truckload and intermodal sectors of the transportation industry. For the truckload spot market, the report forecasts rates for the next 12-15 months.