October Cass Freight Index shows shipments and expenditures gains

The October edition of the Cass Freight Index, which was recently published by Cass Information Systems highlighted gains, for both freight shipments and expenditures.

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.

The report’s shipment reading—at 1.189—was up 0.8% annually, in line with September’s 0.4% annual increase, and was up 0.4% compared to September and up 2.8 compared to September on a seasonally-adjusted basis. And October shipments were up 2.8% on a two-year stacked change basis.   

“Freight volumes remain capacity-constrained, as shown by declining rail volumes and the ongoing backlog of containerships at anchor waiting to unload, but the 2.8% sequential improvement shows a modest rebound as restocking demand remained elevated,” wrote the report’s author Tim Denoyer, ACT Research vice president and senior analyst. “A pickup in automotive volumes likely also helped, as October rail carloadings in the motor vehicle category rose about 15% [sequentially].”

October freight expenditures—at 3.960—saw a 37.2% annual increase, up from September’s 32.2% annual spread, and below August’s 42.2% annual gain. Expenditures rose 3.7% compared to September and were up 3.9% compared to September on a seasonally-adjusted basis.

“If normal seasonality were to play out for the rest of this year, the full-year increase in this index would be 34% in 2021, after a 7% decline in 2020 and no change in 2019,” wrote Denoyer. “Tougher comparisons in the coming months will naturally slow these annual increases further, but normal seasonality implies double-digit increases through most of the first half of 2022.”