July freight shipment and expenditure readings are mixed, reports Cass Freight Index

July freight shipment and expenditure readings were somewhat mixed, according to the new edition of the Cass Freight Index, which was recently issued by Cass Information Systems. 

Many freight transportation and logistics executives and analysts consider the Cass Freight Index to be the most accurate barometer of freight volumes and market conditions, with many analysts noting that the Cass Freight Index sometimes leads the American Trucking Associations (ATA) tonnage index at turning points, which lends to the value of the Cass Freight Index.

What’s more, the Cass Transportation Index accurately measure changes in North American freight activity and costs based on $44 billion in paid freight expenses for the Cass customer base of hundreds of large shippers.  

July’s shipment reading, at 1.110, was off 1.1% annually, not as steep as 6.0% and 5.8% annual declines seen in June and May, respectively, as well as a 3.0% increase, from June to July, and a 3.1% increase over June on a seasonally-adjusted (SA) basis.

This marked the first positive sequential reading, after four months of declines.

“Goods demand continues to grow slowly, but private fleet capacity additions are slowing, which appears to be reducing the pressure on for-hire shipments,” wrote Tim Denoyer, the report’s author and ACT Research vice president and senior analyst, in the report. “After rising 0.6% in 2022, the index declined 5.5% in 2023. With normal seasonality, the index will fall about 3% y/y in August and about 4% for the full year.”

July expenditures, at 3.211, fell 6.2% annually, and were off 0.7%, from June to July, and up 1.5% on a seasonally-adjusted (SA) basis.

“The expenditures component of the Cass Freight Index fell 19% in 2023, after a record 38% surge in 2021 and another 23% increase in 2022,” wrote Denoyer. “It declined another 16% in 1H’24, and assuming normal seasonal patterns from here, will decline about 11% this year.”