Freight shipments and expenditures largely saw declines in January, 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 $36 billion in paid freight expenses for the Cass customer base of hundreds of large shippers.
The January shipments reading, at 0.886, fell 7.1% annually, in line with December’s 7.5% drop, and respective 7.6% and 7.8% annual declines seen in November and October. The reading was off 14.7% on a two-year stacked-change basis and down 4.9% sequentially and off 2.0 on a month-to-month seasonally-adjusted (SA) basis.
Tim Denoyer, the report’s author and ACT Research vice president and senior analyst, observed that January’s shipment data indicates a new cycle low.
“The normal seasonal trend would have the shipments component of the Cass Freight Index down 11% annually in February, although a rebound from the weather could support volumes above this,” wrote Denoyer.
The January Expenditures reading, at 2.990, rose 0.6% annually, reversing December’s 0.6% decline, and were down 3.6%, from December to January, and up 0.4% on a month-to-month seasonally-adjusted basis.
“The flattish results of the past few months were a combination of lower shipments and higher rates,” noted Denoyer. “With shipments down considerably, we can conclude higher freight costs.”
