The new chief executive of trucking company Schneider National, Jim Filter, said he expects U.S. transportation costs to continue to rise as an exodus of truck drivers weighs on capacity.

The cost to move goods via truck increased over the past several months after nearly four years of slumping freight rates. Dry-van spot rates for the week ended July 31 rose about 39% year-over-year excluding fuel surcharges, according to a report from FTR Transportation Intelligence and Truckstop.com.

Filter, who took over as CEO of the Green Bay, Wis.-based company on July 1, said the reversal is largely because of the Trump administration's crackdowns on some immigrant drivers, which have pushed many carriers out of the market.

He said he doesn't expect demand to pick up sharply this year.

"For demand to start to pick up, we probably have to see a little bit of change in either inflation or interest rates," Filter told The Wall Street Journal in an interview on Tuesday. "At this point, we're not expecting to see a dramatic change for the positive in either one of those."