A small uptick in import volume and lingering inventory bloat leaves the freight industry searching for a floor.

In the world of freight, the early months of every year are typically when we experience a lull in the market. Volume and demand alleviate post-holiday, and the market usually cools for the first 3 months of the year, until spring delivers an uptick in business. Add on top of that an already depleting volume and diminishing rates, and you will find yourself in March 2023. Record inflation and growing credit card debt have left consumers to adapt their spending habits, and demand falls even further. Industry experts predicted this would be the case, with the silver lining of a floor being on the horizon. That, fortunately, seems to still be the case. Import volumes, especially on the West coast, saw their numbers dwindle throughout February and March; however, experts believe that an upturn is soon to arrive. Import numbers have been stabilizing throughout the last 2 weeks of March, and will hopefully continue to do so as we soon cross into April.?

Although, one of the biggest roadblocks to positive change would be the average inventory-to-sales ratio increasing over the past 6 months, according to data from the Census Bureau. The decrease in this ratio is the exact remedy for the ballooning inventory and lowered demand, and would allow for leveling out the discrepancy and laying the foundation for a more price-stabilized market. A return to normal levels is no easy task, with the average ratio now up 11% from January 2019. As the market desperately searches for its floor, rising import numbers suggest it may not be too far away. As a shipper with a larger ratio of inventory to sales, however, it is crucial to facilitate your lanes with as much of an emphasis on price as is on the service. Being able to not only have affordable rates, but also pay for the utmost optimized shipping of your product is what will navigate shippers to the other side of this market-pricing floor.