News / North America Transportation

Source: Cass Information Systems

Both the Shipments and Expenditures Indexes have now been positive for three months in a row. Throughout the U.S. economy, there are a growing number of data points suggesting that the economy is getting better. Some data points are simply less bad, but an increasing number of them are better, and even a few are becoming outright strong. The 0.9% YoY increase in the March Cass Shipments Index is yet another data point which suggests that the first positive indication in October may have indeed been a change in trend. In fact, it now looks as if the October Cass Shipments Index, which broke a string of 20 months in negative territory, was one of the first indications that a recovery in freight had begun in earnest.

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Source: American Trucking Associations

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index slipped 1% in March, following a 0.1% decline during February. (February’s percentage decrease was unchanged from our press release on March 21, 2017.) In March, the index equaled 137.5 (2000=100), down from 138.8 in February. The all-time high was 142.7 in February 2016.

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Source: American Trucking Associations

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index slipped 0.1% in February, following a 2.9% increase during January. (January’s index was unchanged from our press release on February 21, 2017.) In February, the index equaled 138.7 (2000=100), down from 138.9 in January. The all-time high was 142.7 in February 2016.

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Source: Cass Information Systems

Both the Shipments and Expenditures Indexes have been positive for two months in a row. Throughout the U.S. economy, there is a growing number of data points suggesting that the economy is getting better. Some data points are simply less bad, but an increasing number of them are better, and even a few are becoming outright strong. The 1.9% YoY increase in the February Cass Shipments Index is yet another data point which strongly suggests that the first positive indication in October may have indeed been a change in trend. In fact, it now looks as if the October Cass Shipments Index, which broke a string of 20 months in negative territory, was one of the first indications that a recovery in freight had begun in earnest.

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Source: American Trucking Associations

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index rose 2.9% in January, following a 4.3% decrease during December. (December’s index was revised up from our press release on January 24, 2017.) In January, the index equaled 138.8 (2000=100), up from 134.9 in December. The all-time high was 142.7 in February 2016.

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Source: Cass Information Systems

Both the Shipments and the Expenditures Indexes have now turned positive. Throughout the U.S. economy, there is a growing number of data points that suggest that the worst is over and the economy is getting better. Some data points are simply less bad, but an increasing number of them are better, and even a few are becoming outright strong.

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Source: American Trucking Associations

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index fell 6.2% in December, following a revised 8.4% jump during November. (November’s index was revised up slightly from our press release on December 20, 2016.) In December, the index equaled 133.8 (2000=100), down from 142.7 in November. The all-time high was 144 in February.

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Cass Information Systems

As is often true of a change in trend, it is neither smooth nor linear. The October Cass Freight Shipments Index was up 2.7%, breaking a string of 20 months in negative territory, then November fell back into negative territory, albeit ever so slightly (down 0.5%). Now December—coming in up 3.5%—suggests that the October data was not a false positive but instead the beginning of a more positive trend. We have seen a wide range of results in the different modes, from continued volume growth in parcel and airfreight driven by e-commerce; to a sequential improvement in truck tonnage; to less bad rail and barge volume overall. Data is beginning to suggest that the consumer is finally starting to spend a little and that with the recent surge in the price of crude, the industrial economy’s rate of deceleration has eased. If the winter of the overall freight recession we’ve been in for more than a year and a half in the U.S. is not yet over, it is certainly showing promising signs of thawing.

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Source: The American Trucking Associations

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index surged 8.2% in November, following a 0.3% drop during October. In November, the index equaled 142.4 (2000=100), up from 131.6 in October. The all-time high was 144 in February.

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