The shipments component of the Cass Freight Index rose 1.9% year-over-year in September.
This is the second consecutive increase following a 3.5-year downturn, the longest on record for the Index. In seasonally adjusted terms, shipments rose 1.4% m/m, building on a 5.0% gain in August.
The Cass Truckload Linehaul Index, the measure of linehaul rates, rose 10.1% year-over-year.
Higher volumes, rates, and fuel surcharges pushed total freight spending up 20.4%.
Cass Freight Index – Shipments
- The shipments component of the Cass Freight Index rose 2.3% m/m and 1.9% y/y in September, the second straight y/y gain after a 3.5-year downturn by this measure, the longest on record.
- In seasonally adjusted (SA) terms, shipments rose 1.4% m/m in September, building on the 5.0% sequential gain in August.
- With modest retail and industrial growth, and some inventory restocking as container imports surge, freight demand is recovering. The combination of a smaller private fleet and rising new equipment sales also supports higher for-hire volumes.
- While two months generally does not make a trend, and rising oil prices and interest rates are limiting factors, the cycle is on a positive track.
The normal seasonal pattern would put the shipments component of the Cass Freight Index up 4% y/y in October.
Cass Freight Index – Expenditures
The expenditures component of the Cass Freight Index, which measures the total amount spent on freight, accelerated to 20% y/y growth in September to 3.970, up from a 19% gain in August.
The acceleration in the past two months, from a prior 5.5% YTD rate, was driven by higher shipments, rates, and fuel surcharges.
- In SA terms, the index rose 4.0% m/m after a 6.0% gain in August.
After declines in 2023, 2024, and 2025, the expenditures component of the Cass Freight Index is on track for a 12% gain in 2026. With normal seasonality, the index would rise 23% y/y in October.
Cass Truckload Linehaul Index
The Cass Truckload Linehaul Index rose to 154.8 in September, up 0.6% m/m and up 10.1% y/y.
- The sequential increase is slower than the 0.9% YTD average, likely because spot rates retrenched somewhat and contract rates slowed with few bids this time of year.
- Even as spot rates slow with modest sequential declines, the much larger contract market is still adjusting higher.
- This index reflects the whole for-hire truckload market, both spot and contract rates.
The Cass Truckload Linehaul Index fell 10% in 2023, another 3.4% in 2024, and turned up to a 1.8% increase in 2025. In 2026, the index is on pace for a 7% increase.
Dana Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has been featured in multiple newspapers, books and magazines across the globe. She is currently based in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.
