The latest release of ACT Research’s For-Hire Trucking Index, with March data, showed a Driver Availability Index that has tightened to another new low point in the past three years, the fourth in a row.

Tim Denoyer, ACT Research’s Vice President and Senior Analyst, commented, “The Driver Availability Index tightened to a new low in March, to 16.7 from 23.6 in February.”

He added, “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.”

Denoyer also noted, “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.”

The ACT For-Hire Trucking Index is a monthly survey of for-hire trucking service providers. ACT Research converts responses into diffusion indexes, where the neutral or flat activity level is 50.