ACT Research’s recently released For-Hire Trucking Index showed that driver availability has tightened to another new low point in the past three years, the fourth in a row.

In March, the Driver Availability Index hit 16.7, compared with 23.6 in February.

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.”

“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,” said Tim Denoyer, ACT Research’s vice president and senior analyst.

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.