For the first time in twenty months the Cass Freight Index shows an increase year-over-year, indicating there has been an unexpected surge in shipping volume.
The Cass Freight Index represents monthly levels of shipment activity, in terms of volume of shipments and expenditures for freight shipments. The newly released Cass Freight Index Report for October shows shipments increased 2.7% from the same time a year ago. That marks the first year-over-year hike in 20 months, with the gauge hitting a level of 1.121. This is also the highest reading since September 2015 and a 0.9% improvement from September 2016.
For the trucking industry, the news isn’t quite as positive. While overall tonnage has increased slightly, the number of loads has contracted in five of the last seven months.
