Skip to content
Eric Starks
Eric Starks

Eric Starks

Chairman
FTR Transportation Intelligence
Bio

Eric is Chairman of FTR, the industry leader in freight transportation forecasting. Having spent his entire career in the freight transportation sector, he is a leading researcher in freight modal share analysis and forecasting. His background includes research in both rail and truck freight movements and asset equipment purchases. He is one of the premier industry forecasters on transportation equipment demand for rail cars, commercial trucks, and trailers. Eric is frequently called on to speak at Wall Street analyst meetings, association events, and private meetings for his unique ability to communicate to his audiences. His ability to easily convey how the macro-economy, logistics, freight, and equipment demand impacts their respective business makes him relatable and entertaining. Eric resides in Bloomington, Indiana and is an active member of the transportation community, former board member for NITL, and was instrumental in the creation of the Indiana University Transportation Board.


Economically Derived Demand: Using data to explain and forecast demand for your business

Every business has demand for their services. However, understanding what triggers that demand and how to make it useful is helpful in making business decisions. This session will explore how to synthesize large data sets and make it useful for you and your company. We will walk through how to aggregate data in a way that allows you to start modeling demand. We will connect the dots between economic data, industry data, and industry productivity to help you better understand the relationships between the data and how to convert it into useful and actionable information. We take a step by step walk through of how FTR uses this data to derive demand for rail cars, trucks, and trailers. Understanding this process will help you in your business no matter what the product or service that you provide.

Leadership