Cass Information Systems

Shipments and expenditures are each down 1.1 percent from July.

The heading of the July Cass Freight Index Report from Cass Information Systems, “Slow growth in freight; slow growth in the economy,” aptly sums up the current freight environment, which continues to flatten out and lack true signs of growth.

June truckload rates were up 3.9 percent compared to June 2011, and intermodal was up 0.6 percent.

An ongoing trend of the economy flattening out was apparent in the most recent edition of the Cass Freight Index Report from Cass Information Systems.

Freight shipments and expenditures both saw gains on a sequential and annual level, according to the most recent edition of the Cass Freight Index Report from Cass Information Systems.

Reversing a trend which occurred in February and March, cost growth outpaced shipment growth, according to data in the most recent edition of the Cass Freight Index report.

March shipments at 1.094 were up 2.1 percent compared to February and down 1.3 percent compared to March 2011. Expenditures at 2.317 were up 1.0 percent compared to February and up 4.3 percent compared to March 2011.

In what its authors described as “the possible reversal of a very long trend,” the February edition of the Cass Freight Index Report showed that the change in shipments from January to February exceeded the monthly change in expenditures.

January shipments at 1.046 were down .95 percent compared to December and up 3.6 percent compared to January 2010. This marked the 20th consecutive month shipments were above the 1.0 mark since May 2010

As has been the case in recent months, truckload pricing remains solid for carriers, according to the most recent edition of The Cass Truckload Linehaul Index from Cass Information Systems and Avondale Partners.

Following two straight months of declining freight shipments and expenditures, the December 2011 edition of the Cass Freight Index inched closer to positive territory.

Pricing for truckload carriers remained solid in November, according to the most recent edition of The Cass Truckload Linehaul Index from Cass Information Systems and Avondale Partners.

A watchful eye on inventory levels by retailers kept freight shipments and expenditures down on a sequential basis for the second straight month, with mixed results annually, according to the November 2011 edition of the Cass Freight Index.

A new indicator for truckload pricing, which was recently introduced by Cass Information Systems, the largest payer of freight bills with more than $17 billion in annual freight spend, and investment firm Avondale Partners, disclosed this week that per-mile truckload pricing saw significant gains in October.

The October 2011 edition of the Cass Freight Index showed signs of mixed messages, when it comes to figuring out freight trends. While freight shipments and expenditures were up annually, they were both down from September in another sign that the economic recovery is both gradual and unpredictable.